The Los Angeles Rams were set to host the Minnesota Vikings at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, in Monday’s NFL playoff game. But due to the severe wildfires in Los Angeles, the NFL announced that Monday night’s Wild Card round game between the Vikings and Rams has been moved.
According to the Los Angeles Times, this is one of the most destructive fires in the region’s history, as it has burned more than 5,000 acres and 1,000 structures and tragically caused multiple deaths. The NFL ultimately decided to move the game to Arizona as the wildfires raged in LA, but has a playoff game ever been relocated before?
Has an NFL Playoff Game Ever Previously Been Relocated?
The NFL released an official statement to announce the relocation of the final Wild Card Weekend game to Arizona.
“In the interest of public safety, Monday’s Vikings-Rams Wild Card game has been moved from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, to State Farm Stadium, the home of the Arizona Cardinals. The decision was made in consultation with public officials, the participating clubs and the NFLPA,” the statement read.
This is just the second time in NFL history that a playoff game has been relocated, with the other being the 1936 NFL Championship between the Boston Redskins and Green Bay Packers (which was moved from Boston to New York in order to improve attendance).
The fact that Rams vs. Vikings is a playoff game likely complicated matters, as postponing the game would have affected the postseason schedule. This was already slated to be the final game of Wild Card Weekend, and pushing it back any further would impact the Divisional Round.
The Rams-Vikings game being relocated to Arizona makes sense simply because of the close distance between the two stadiums.
Previous NFL Games That Were Relocated
Although this is only the second instance regarding the NFL playoffs, multiple regular-season games have been relocated.
- Chargers vs. Dolphins, 2003: Qualcomm Stadium’s parking lot was being used as an evacuation center for wildfire victims. The air quality was poor due to the smoke, and game security would have been an issue as police were stretched thin.
- Vikings vs. Giants, 2010: A snowstorm in Minnesota and damage to the Metrodome caused a Vikings-Giants to be moved to Detroit and a Vikings-Bears game to be played at the University of Minnesota campus.
- Vikings vs. Eagles, 2010: A Sunday Night Football game between the Vikings and Eagles was pushed back two days due to a snowstorm in Philadelphia.
- Jets vs. Bills, 2014: A snowstorm in Buffalo caused this late-November contest to be moved to Detroit and postponed until the following day.
- Cowboys vs. Texans, 2017: This was a preseason game that was canceled due to Hurricane Harvey. Since it was just an exhibition game, it wasn’t rescheduled.
- Dolphins vs. Buccaneers, 2017: This showdown between two Florida teams was pushed back to the following week due to Hurricane Irma.
- Cardinals vs. Saints, 2021: In another instance of a preseason game getting canceled, this Cardinals-Saints matchup was never played due to Hurricane Ida.
- Saints vs. Packers, 2021: In Week 1 of the season, the Saints-Packers game was moved to Jacksonville because of damage caused by Hurricane Ida.
- Browns vs. Bills, 2022: A severe snowstorm caused this late-November game to be relocated to Detroit.