Is Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp in huddles to negotiate naming rights for the new $975 million stadium for the Minnesota Vikings?

Over the weekend, veteran Star Tribune sports columnist Sid Hartman reported that a “long-term agreement” was in the works, citing two unidentified sources. The story’s headline said: “Expect U.S. Bank to get stadium naming rights.”

But Nicole Garrison-Sprenger, spokeswoman for the downtown Minneapolis-based Fortune 500, told Twin Cities Business: “We won’t comment on rumor and speculation.”

The new stadium, now under construction on the site of the demolished Metrodome, is set to open in 2016 at the eastern edge of downtown Minneapolis.

Richard Davis, the chairman, president, and CEO of U.S. Bancorp, was one of the bid committee co-chairs who helped quarterback the effort to land the Super Bowl at the new stadium in 2018. NFL owners voted to select Minneapolis on May 20, beating out competing bids from Indianapolis and New Orleans.