Hurricane Forecast Jeopardizes Sunday Night Football Game

The NFL is already making plans in case Hurricane Ian makes landfall near Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers are set to host the Kansas City Chiefs in a massive Sunday Night Football showdown in Week 4, but if disaster strikes, the game could very well be moved.

The Bucs are working with the NFL to make contingency plans to possibly move Sunday’s game against the Chiefs and/or make arrangements to practice in another city Wednesday and Thursday should Hurricane Ian make landfall near Tampa, coach Todd Bowles said.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) September 26, 2022

Contingencies could include playing the game in another city or moving the date of the game to mid-week. The NFL gained a lot of experience rescheduling games during the 2020 season; the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated frequent adjustments to the slate, including three games being postponed in Week 15. Typically, the games were played in primetime sometime between Monday and Thursday of the following week.

In very rare cases, games have been moved to other cities due to extreme weather. Detroit hosted two such games in recent history: the Buffalo Bills were forced to host the New York Jets at Ford Field due to a snowstorm in 2014, and The Minnesota Vikings lost their home game against the New York Giants in 2010 due to a snow-induced roof collapse at the Metrodome. For obvious reasons, this tends to be a last resort: NFL teams covet the revenue and strategic advantages home stadiums provide.