Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium named NFL’s best stadium but it’s also the toughest

The Vikings home at U.S. Bank Stadium was named the best in the NFL.

Almost exactly four years ago, the Minnesota Vikings officially opened up a shiny, new and impressive stadium in downtown Minneapolis. After 2.5 years of construction with a replacement for the Metrodome, an enormous enclosed stadium named U.S. Bank Stadium held a grand opening on July 22, 2016 and marked the new home for various events and sports teams, especially the Vikings.

Containing roughly 73,000 seats within it, the stadium features a unique design highlighted by a large number of glass windows that allow natural light to shine in on the event taking place inside. The building has the potential to be a deafening atmosphere especially while the purple and gold are on the field.

Although the building isn’t necessarily new anymore, that doesn’t mean it’s not one of the nicest stadiums housing NFL teams. And The Athletic’s crew of NFL reporters agree.

Leading up to the 2020 NFL season, The Athletic ranked every stadium hosting teams throughout the league during the 2019 season and U.S. Bank Stadium was ranked the best out of all 31 of them.

Although the stadium is arguably still one of the nicest in the NFL, it is also one of the toughest for opposing teams to play in and isn’t just a nice shiny building the Vikings happen to play in. Minnesota has been a dominant force within those walls since making the move into it in 2016.

Why U.S. Bank Stadium gives the Vikings the best, toughest venue in the NFL.

The Vikings earned their first win in U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on August 28, 2016 in a preseason victory over the then-San Diego Chargers. Now entering its fifth season as the Vikings’ home, Minnesota has gone 23-9 overall in regular-season games during that span and won its lone playoff game there in 2018 (you may have heard of the Minneapolis Miracle taking place during that game).

A season ago, the Vikings finished the eight-game regular-season slate at home with a record of 6-2 overall, building off of a 2018 season where they went 5-3 at home, a 2017 campaign where they finished 7-1 at home and a 2016 season where they went 5-3 in front of their home crowd.

Much like its old home of the Metrodome, U.S. Bank Stadium can be an ear-rattling venue when all 73,000-plus purple and gold fans are screaming at the top of their lungs for their team taking the field in front of them. And you throw in the “SKOL” chant on top of that, it’s an intimidating place for opposing teams to play.

Although U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis has been voted as one of the nicest stadiums among all of the NFL teams, it’s also one of the toughest stadiums for the opposition to enter into and the Vikings have taken advantage of that since the opening of the impressive venue in 2016.