Minnesota Vikings-Wells Fargo sign dispute continues

A daylong settlement conference between the Minnesota Vikings and Wells Fargo failed to produce an agreement regarding the bank's signs atop office builders near the team's new stadium.

Lawyers for both sides spent eight hours with U.S. Magistrate Judge Janie Mayeron on Tuesday, but left at 6 p.m. with no agreement.

The Vikings filed a federal lawsuit late last year saying the Wells Fargo violated a two-year-old agreement by placing elevated signs on the rooftops of two office buildings near the new U.S. Bank Stadium. The signs on the roofs of the two 17-story buildings are elevated 18 inches.

The NFL team claims the signs will "photo bomb" the team's new $1.1 billion stadium. The team is also looking to protect the undisclosed millions it received from U.S. Bank to put its name and logo on the gigantic new building.

The Vikings and Wells Fargo have been in closed-door negotiations over the signs for months.

The trial is scheduled to begin July 11 and is expected to take between two to five days.

U.S. Judge Donovan Frank will hear arguments on the motions at 9 a.m. on June 3 in his courtroom in St. Paul.

In an unrelated action regarding signs on Vikings' facilities, the Eagan Advisory Planning Commission told the team to shrink the size of the logo planned for the team's new indoor practice facility, according to a report in Finance and Commerce.

The Eagan City Council is expected to discuss the proposed development on the former Delta Airlines headquarters site at a special meeting May 23.

The planning commission's recommendation is advisory only, but city zoning restricts corporate signs to 20 percent on two sides of a building. The practice facility is expected to be more than 100 feet tall.