Branding lesson learned, Vikings?

When it comes to branding guidelines, the Minnesota Vikings were recently reminded that even the smallest of details matter.

Starting with the 2016 season, the Minnesota Viking’s new stadium will be open for business. Ironically, the new stadium is located on Chicago Avenue, a street bearing (pun intended) the name of one of their biggest rivals in their own division.

The Vikings were hoping to get a name change approved in March, but the Minneapolis City Planning Commission shot that idea down last month. According to the Minneapolis StarTribune, the 10-person commission unanimously voted against the team’s proposal to change the name of Chicago Avenue to “Vikings Way.”

“The Minnesota Vikings strongly object to having the street running in front of the stadium named after one of its opponents and neighboring rival,” the team wrote in their proposal.

The team pointed out that there’s precedent for such a name change. In 2010, the commission voted to change the name of the street in front of the Twins’ new stadium to “Twins Way.”

Like many of their games, the Vikings seem to be hoping for a last minute play intervention – the Minneapolis City Council could still overrule and allow the name change.

If it doesn’t work out and the Vikings do end up playing on Chicago Avenue in 2016, visiting Chicago Bear fans will no doubt use it as an opportunity to poke fun at the Purple and Gold on Facebook and Instagram.