Judge Sides With Vikings In Dispute Against Wells Fargo

When you see the aerial shots of the new U.S. Bank Stadium during Minnesota Vikings games starting this September, one thing you will see is a glorious view of the Minneapolis/St. Paul skyline.

One thing you won't see is advertising for a bank that is not U.S. Bank.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ruled that Wells Fargo had breached the contract that they had signed with the Vikings concerning signage on a couple of buildings near the new home of Vikings football. The battle has been going on for a while, and Frank ordered the two sides to attempt to come to a settlement. They chose not to do that, and with Frank's ruling on Thursday, Wells Fargo appears to have officially lost.

Frank's ruling states that Wells Fargo has 30 days to remove the signs from the rooftops of two buildings near U.S. Bank Stadium. The contract that the two sides signed said that Wells Fargo could have advertising on the rooftops that were painted and flat, but the bank decided to put advertising there that was raised and illuminated. That's when the Vikings decided to take the matter to court.

Frank also ordered Wells Fargo to pay the Vikings' legal fees for the proceeding.

The Vikings released the following statement:

"We are pleased with the Court's ruling today that requires Wells Fargo to honor its written agreement with the Minnesota Vikings by removing all raised rooftop signage within 30 days and directs Wells Fargo not to install any mounted or illuminated rooftop signage in the future. We appreciate Judge Frank's deliberate and thoughtful review of our request and his decision to uphold the written agreement."

Wells Fargo has not yet released any sort of statement on the ruling.

So, for what it's worth, that fight appears to be over. With the first football game at U.S. Bank Stadium set to take place in a little over two months, the signs will be long gone before anything important happens at the new home of the Vikings.