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# Fact brief: Did the Minnesota Vikings play their first-ever game in Sioux Falls?
- URL: https://www.sdnewswatch.org/gigafact-brief-minnesota-vikings-dallas-cowboys-sioux-falls-preseason-game/
- Published: 2025-09-09T11:00:36.000Z
- Updated: 2025-09-09T13:47:28.000Z
- Description: A fact brief that refutes or confirms a claim with supporting information and additional evidence and context.
- Author: Michael Klinski
- Tags: Fact briefs

## Yes.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/2025/01/WhiteFACT-BRIEF--500-x-200-px--2-1-1.png)

The Minnesota Vikings played their first-ever game as a professional football team at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls on Aug. 5, 1961.

About 5,000 fans saw the Dallas Cowboys beat the Vikings 38-13 in an exhibition game, which also featured the debut of future Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton.

Local coaching legend Bob Burns played a crucial role in bringing the team to Sioux Falls. At a chance encounter at a Minneapolis bar, Burns overheard a conversation involving the Vikings president discussing a preseason game in Fargo-Moorhead. Burns then advocated for Sioux Falls. Burns was told it would require $40,000, and he secured it from Sioux Falls contributors. 

Grandstand seats cost $5.50 (roughly $60 today), but attendance was lower than expected – organizers lost $10,000.

To commemorate the game, two Sioux Falls men are trying to get a plaque placed near Howard Wood Field.

*This fact brief responds to conversations such as* [*this one*](https://www.reddit.com/r/SiouxFalls/comments/1nbc4mo/does%5Fanyone%5Fhave%5Fany%5Fmemorabilia%5Ffrom%5Fthis%5Fgame/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)*.*

### **Sources**

Sioux Falls Argus Leader, [The day the Vikings played at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls](https://www.argusleader.com/story/stuwhitney/2014/08/14/vikings-nfl-howard-wood-field-sioux-falls/14058365/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

KELO-TV, [Historic marker project to honor first Vikings game](https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/historic-marker-project-to-honor-first-vikings-game/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

SDPB, [Birth of a franchise, Minnesota Vikings In South Dakota](https://www.sdpb.org/sports-rec/birth-of-a-franchise-minnesota-vikings-in-south-dakota?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

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