EAGAN, Minn. — There's always anticipation and excitement surrounding Week 1 in the NFL, as every team around the league is brimming with a clean slate and playoff hopes.
But when your season opener is a historic home game against your biggest rival, the stakes are even higher.
Vikings fans have voted, and they have tabbed the Vikings-Packers matchup on Sept. 13 at U.S. Bank Stadium as the most-anticipated game of the 2020 season.
The first Border Battle in 2020 earned the most votes in a Twitter poll, with more than 50 percent of the nearly 5,000 total votes going toward the game.
Minnesota is 54-62-3 all-time against Green Bay, including a 1-1 mark in the playoffs. The Vikings will open their 60th season in franchise history with a new twist on the annual matchup.
The rivals have met to open six previous seasons (1962, 1974, 1992, 1994, 2003 and 2008), but this will be the first time that Minnesota has ever hosted Green Bay in Week 1.
The Border Battle matchup beat out another highly-anticipated NFC game against a team that has evolved into a Vikings rival.
Minnesota's Week 16 game in New Orleans on Christmas Day finished second in the poll at 31.4 percent.
The Vikings and Saints have created some memorable playoff moments in recent years, whether it was Minnesota's road Wild Card win in overtime in January, or the 'Minneapolis Miracle' in January of 2018.
New Orleans has won 37 regular-season games over the past three seasons, compared to 31 such wins by Minnesota. But both teams have a pair of playoff victories in that span, with both of the Vikings wins coming against the Saints in dramatic fashion.
The Week 16 game is scheduled to be the fourth appearance by the Vikings on Christmas, which falls on a Friday this year. The team has played three previous games on Fridays.
Fans narrowed down the four finalists in Twitter polls based on each four-game quarter of the season.
The Vikings Week 11 home game against the Cowboys was third with 9.3 percent. The teams met in Dallas in 2019, with the Vikings securing a key 28-24 win that helped Minnesota get into the playoffs.
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer, of course, got his start in the NFL as a Cowboys assistant coach in 1994 and was with the organization through the 2006 season. Dallas visited Minnesota in 2016, but Zimmer was unable to coach in the Thursday Night Football game because of emergency eye surgery.
Minnesota's annual trip to Lambeau Field ranked fourth in the final poll at 8.6 percent. The Vikings have a bye in Week 7 and will then head to Green Bay to finish out their regular-season series with the Packers.
The Vikings are 2-3-1 at Lambeau Field since Zimmer arrived in Minnesota.
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