U.S. Bank will be the naming-rights partner for the Vikings' new $1.1B stadium scheduled to open in July '16. Sources said the deal was completed in March, but will be officially announced next Monday. The sources added that the deal for what will soon be called U.S. Bank Stadium is for 20 years and $220M, around the same total amount as the reported figure Levi's paid to entitle the 49ers' year-old stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The new venue is slated to host Super Bowl LII in '18, and the '19 NCAA Final Four. Prior to a presentation on the new Minneapolis stadium at last week's Veritix Sports Facilities & Ffranchises conference, Vikings Exec VP & CMO Steve LaCroix would not comment on the deal beyond noting that "there are plenty of Fortune 100 companies in our backyard." During his presentation, LaCroix said the Vikings also are hoping to secure the '20 CFP for the new stadium, along with a future Wrestlemania. Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment has been assisting the Vikings in selling PSLs, suites and some of the larger pieces of sponsorship inventory associated with the new stadium. VWSE Senior VP Chris Allphin, who was also at last week's SFF Conference, referred questions on Minneapolis naming rights to LaCroix. The deal ends a two-year courtship of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, which is the fifth-largest bank in the nation. Sources said the naturally conservative tendencies of bankers were exacerbated by the NFL's domestic violence problems last season.
: This is the first stadium entitlement for U.S. Bank, although it holds consumer banking rights and provides ATMs at Levi's Stadium. U.S. Bank also holds naming rights for the 17,500-seat arena in downtown Cincinnati, as well as dozens of pro and college team sponsorships. The new Vikings stadium will become the fourth NFL facility to have a bank as title sponsor. The others are Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and EverBank Field in Jacksonville. Until the new Minneapolis stadium is completed, the Vikings will play in the Univ. of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium. U.S. Bank was one of three original lenders of more than $250M in loans for stadium construction, along with Goldman Sachs and BofA. Normally, the stadium financing acquired by banks as part of their naming-rights deals are far more important than the associated marketing inventory, said California-based Premier Partnerships President Randy Bernstein. "If a bank does a naming-rights deal and doesn't get financing out of it, I would call that a big problem," said Bernstein. "That's how banks turn naming-rights into profit centers." Premier Partnerships is helping the Falcons sell naming rights and founding-level sponsorships at its new $1.4B stadium set to open in '17.
