Vikings Fans Get Bad News About Tailgating

Tailgating has become one of the most popular things for football fans to do when they head to the game, whether it's a college or pro game. But how does Minnesota stack up compared to tailgating in other NFL cities?

U.S. Bank Stadium Has Been Home to the Vikings Since 2016

U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis has been home to the Minnesota Vikings for an entire decade already. After funding for the new stadium was approved by state leaders in 2012, construction began in 2014. And it was a massive project, one that consisted of over 8,000 construction jobs, with roughly 1,500 workers on-site at one time. Collectively, those crews logged an estimated 3.8 million work hours in a little over two years to bring the new stadium to life.

The very first Vikings game ever played at U.S. Bank Stadium was a preseason matchup against the San Diego Chargers on August 28, 2016, which the Vikings won 23–10. The first regular-season game at U.S. Bank Stadium took place on September 18, 2016, against the Green Bay Packers, which the Vikings also won, 17–14.

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Since then, in addition to hosting Super Bowl LII in 2018, U.S. Bank Stadium has also been noted several times as being one of the best stadiums in the NFL, winning the top spot in the Voice Of The Fan survey for best overall game day experience in 2025. The Athletic also recently ranked the home of the Vikings as the top stadium in the league as well.

Minnesota Has One of the NFL’s Worst Tailgating Setups

But one area in which U.S. Bank Stadium apparently doesn't do well is... tailgating. That's the word from this Best Cities in the NFL for Tailgating report. It noted that Vikings fans have one of the toughest tailgating setups in the NFL! To compile these rankings, the report looked at weather, parking, local stores, and attendance data to create an overall tailgating score.

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Vikings Fans Have One Big Tailgating Problem

And overall, it's not good news for Minnesota. In fact, the report ranked the Vikings second from the bottom out of 32 teams with a tailgating score of just 53.0. Here are some other stats from the report:

• There are just 46 acres of surface parking within a mile of U.S. Bank Stadium, and 40% of it sits within a half mile of the gates, one of the five tightest setups in the league.
• Minnesota's home schedule averages a high of 47°F, the second coldest in the NFL behind only Green Bay.

And while being ranked 31 out of 32 for tailgating isn't good, Vikings fans can take solace in the fact that their arch-rival, the Green Bay Packers, had a worse ranking. That's right, Lambeau Field ranked 32nd in the report, putting the Packers at the very bottom of the survey as the worst city for tailgating, due to Green Bay's infamous cold weather.