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Thursday Afternoon update: The Bucs and Chiefs will play their game Sunday night as scheduled in Tampa.
Thursday AM update: The Tampa Sports Authority informed the NFL on Thursday they have all the resources needed for emergency services to host Sunday Night Football between the Bucs and Chiefs, per Rick Stroud. The NFL will now make a decision on the status of the game.
Wednesday update: NFL spokesperson Jeff Miller said the league has not yet decided if it will move Week 4 SNF out of Tampa due to Hurricane Ian, per Judy Battista. The league is monitoring the situation but did confirm that if the game needs to be moved, it would be played in Minneapolis on Sunday night.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are scheduled to host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in Week 4, but Hurricane Ian might force a change to the game location. The storm has strengthened to a Category 3 storm as it prepares to make landfall in western Cuba and is expected to reach Category 4 by the time it hits Florida.
Tampa is one of the central spots expected to be hit and the NFL has begun preparations in case the game needs to be moved. The Bucs announced they moved their football operations to Miami-Dade County for the time-being with the team practicing at the Dolphins’ Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Dolphins are playing the Bengals in Cincinnati on Thursday this week and would be cleared out by the time the Bucs started their Wednesday practice.
Sunday’s game has not been relocated yet, but if it does, Minneapolis is on the short list of alternatives for the game. While Miami could potentially host it with the Dolphins out of town, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington is reporting the NFL does not want to use state resources in Miami that would be better served helping those impacted by the hurricane. The Vikings are in London this week to face the Saints, which leaves US Bank Stadium available for another game.
The NFL has relocated games before due to weather. Last season, Packers-Saints was moved to Jacksonville because of Hurricane Ida and Vikings-Giants was moved to Detroit in 2010 after the Metrodome roof collapsed due to heavy snow.
Thread: If the Bucs are unable to host the Chiefs on Sunday due to the impact of Hurricane Ian, the NFL is unlikely to use Miami as the new game site even though Dolphins aren’t using the stadium, per league sources. The Bucs would instead be on the move again…
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) September 26, 2022