US Bank Stadium is the backup option if the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to move their Sunday night game from Florida due to damage from Hurricane Ian, a National Football League official said Wednesday.
Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president of health and safety policy, made the announcement on a call. Miller said the 2020 Super Bowl rematch for Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium is still ongoing but will be moved to Minneapolis if necessary.
Miller said the first priority is to ensure the league does nothing to “negatively impact public safety efforts in affected areas.” … We are monitoring the situation closely and are having minute-by-minute talks with both clubs, the stadium, local and state authorities and various weather agencies.”
When asked how close Sunday might be to a decision, Miller said there was no timetable.
“It’s literally a minute by minute, hourly consideration and conversation with all parties involved, state and local authorities, civil protection organizations and the clubs involved – as well as the Vikings,” he said.
Rumors of the game moving from Tampa Bay to Minneapolis began online early Tuesday, quickly creating excitement about the teams and players involved.
The game would be a duel between two of the NFL’s biggest stars and future first-round Hall of Famers: quarterbacks Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. In the 2020 championship game, the Brady-led Buccaneers beat Mahomes and the Chiefs in Tampa Bay.
John Drum, general manager of ASM Global, which runs the operations of US Bank Stadium, said staff and the building can be mobilized and ready.
The 67,000-plus seats at US Bank Stadium would be available Sunday night as the Vikings will be far away and set to play the New Orleans Saints in London. The Vikings, the main tenants at US Bank Stadium, deferred comment to the league.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the New York-based league was in no rush to place a call.
“We are always making contingency plans in case we need to make adjustments while we continue to monitor developments and stay in touch with the two participating teams along with local officials there,” McCarthy said. “We could make decisions later in the week, including on Friday.”
Postponing the game because of a hurricane is not unprecedented. A year ago, the New Orleans Saints’ home game against the Green Bay Packers was moved to Jacksonville, Florida due to Hurricane Ida.
The NFL is familiar with the capabilities of US Bank Stadium’s operations and staff since the building hosted Super Bowl 52 in 2018. Brady also played in that game as the losing quarterback for the New England Patriots.
It is not yet clear whether the hurricane will hit Tampa Bay and how severe the damage will be. Even if the storm doesn’t hit Tampa directly, the damage nearby or elsewhere could strain public safety resources and necessitate Sunday’s game being rescheduled.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged Florida residents to prepare for prolonged power outages.
Staff writer Ben Goessling contributed to this report.