Hurricane Ian has made landfall in the US coast and could have a serious impact on the state of Florida, particularly the Tampa Bay region. Because of this, the NFL is deciding whether to permit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to host the Kansas City Chiefs on prime time ‘Sunday Night Football’ in Week 4.
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When Hurricane Ian was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane on Monday, it prompted the Buccaneers to make preparations to leave Tampa and hold their practise sessions at the Miami Dolphins’ training complex for the remainder of the week. And as the storm made landfall in Florida, the US National Hurricane Center, has updated its classification as a Category 4 storm. Thus, it is very likely that NFL will have to locate another location for the two teams to meet if the weather worsens and is considered unsafe.
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According to Judy Battista of NFL.com., the game would be moved to U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, home to Minnesota Vikings if the league decided it was unsafe to play it in Florida. According to reports, the game will still take place Sunday night. Another contender is the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, home of the New Orleans Saints. Given that the Vikings and Saints both play on Sunday morning in London, both locations will be empty to host the game.
According to reports, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami won’t host the game because the NFL doesn’t want to use state resources to host a game when those resources could be used to help Tampa Bay recover from the disaster.
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This would not be the first time the NFL had to move a game due to bad weather. The most recent occurrence was in 2021 when Hurricane Ida compelled Jacksonville to host the New Orleans Saints’ Week 1 matchup against the Green Bay Packers.