The Vikings will unveil U.S. Bank Stadium to a nationally televised audience on Sept. 18 when they host the rival Green Bay Packers in primetime.
Vikings schedule: U.S. Bank opener vs. Packers, Thanksgiving in Detroit highlight five national TV games
The Vikings open at the Titans before hosting their division rival to break in their new stadium.
April 15, 2016 at 4:17PM
Their 2016 home opener, which will be televised on NBC, kicks off at 7:30 p.m.
Last season, the Vikings went 11-5 and won their first NFC North title since 2009. They dethroned the four-time reigning division champion Packers by beating them 20-13 at Lambeau Field in the season finale. By doing so, they earned a home playoff game at TCF Bank Stadium, their temporary home in 2014 and 2015, but lost to the Seattle Seahawks 10-9.
The home opener is one of five scheduled national games for the Vikings in 2016. That includes four games in primetime, three of them in Minneapolis.
The Vikings will play their first game, albeit a preseason one, at their new place on Aug. 28 against the San Diego Chargers and close the preseason there against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 1. U.S. Bank Stadium will also host two major concerts and an international soccer match in August.
The Vikings will open the regular season on the road in part because the NFL wanted to give the team time to account for any potential construction delays or resolve any issues that occur during those preseason games and events, though the Vikings in February declared the project 90 percent complete.
The construction of U.S. Bank Stadium started shortly after the demolition of the Metrodome began in January 2014. Taxpayers in Minnesota covered $498 million of the $1.1 billion cost. The Vikings are paying the remainder.
The Vikings will travel to Tennessee for their regular season opener on Sept. 11 and host the Chicago Bears in their Week 17 season finale. Their bye is Week 6.
Their schedule includes a Monday night game in Chicago on Halloween, a trip to Detroit to play the Lions on Thanksgiving Day and a Christmas Eve showdown with the Packers in Green Bay in their penultimate game.
In addition to playing their NFC North rivals and two fellow 2015 first-place finishers in the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals, the Vikings draw the NFC East and AFC South under the NFL's rotating division-vs.-division schedule. Last season, the Washington Redskins and the Houston Texans won the NFC East and the AFC South, respectively, with 9-7 records.
Based on last season's records, the Vikings will have the NFL's 18th-toughest schedule, according to NFL.com. But their strength of schedule, by design, is the NFC North's most difficult because they are the reigning champions.
The Vikings went 5-1 in the division in 2015, sweeping the season series against both the Lions and Bears and splitting their two games with the Packers.
Their home schedule in the first season of U.S. Bank Stadium's existence includes night games vs. the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys and afternoon affairs against the Cardinals, Texans and Indianapolis Colts.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
