Report: Minnesota Vikings in talks with U.S. Bank for stadium naming rights

Jun 11, 2013; Eden Prairie, MN, USA; A Minnesota Vikings helmet sits on the side of the field at the Minnesota Vikings Minicamp at Winter Park. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 11, 2013; Eden Prairie, MN, USA; A Minnesota Vikings helmet sits on the side of the field at the Minnesota Vikings Minicamp at Winter Park. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Minnesota Vikings have a new stadium they’ll need to be naming rather soon and they’re wasting no time in getting some extra coin for selling the rights.

More from Minnesota Vikings

Not every stadium needs to be named, as the Jerrydome in Dallas wasn’t named for years until Jerry Jones decided to cash in and sell the rights. Minnesota won’t be waiting that long to sell the naming rights but there’s a chance that the new stadium is named before the rubble of the Metrodome is totally cleared.

According to Sid Hartman from the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Vikings are in talks with U.S. Bank for naming rights to the new stadium. Not only that, but Hartman reports the naming rights deal could be for as long as 25 years.

"The word from two sources is that work on a contract for a long-term agreement between the Wilf family and U.S. Bancorp is happening, and unless someone emerges with a much better bid, or the recently announced cost-cutting at U.S. Bank creates a problem, the deal will be an agreement much like the one the Twins made with Target for a 25-year contract, with its worth believed to be between $7million and $10 million per year."

This is interesting news for more than one reason as it not only signals the official start of the new stadium era for the Vikings but it breaks the trend of Minneapolis sports complexes being named similarly. The Timberwolves play in Target Center with the Twins play just steps away at Target Field.

But Target isn’t in consideration for the Vikings stadium and that’s something that may be a little more than simply trivial information.

Nevertheless, the city of Minneapolis planning a sports epicenter with it’s three sports stadiums isn’t thrown off if they aren’t all named the same, and the Vikings naming their new stadium is truly the start of an interesting new era in the history of the team and the city in which they play.