After a few days of speculation, the NFL has decided that the Week 4 “Sunday Night Football” game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers with be played at Raymond James Stadium as scheduled.
There was plenty of discussion about moving the game to Minneapolis in light of Hurricane Ian, but the path of the storm has allowed for the game to remain in Tampa Bay as scheduled. Here is the full statement from the Buccaneers:
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the many thousands in the Southwest Florida region who have been severely impacted by Hurricane Ian. We are also very thankful that the Tampa Bay area was spared the most damaging consequences of this powerful storm. We have informed the NFL, after consulting with local and state agencies, that we are ready to play Sunday night’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium as originally scheduled.
We would like to thank all of the local government agencies and the thousands of emergency personnel who worked tirelessly over the past few days to ensure that our area would be ready to respond if needed. We would also like to acknowledge the Miami Dolphins organization for their assistance and hospitality in allowing us to use their practice facilities this week.
We also want to express our sincere appreciation to the first responders and emergency personnel who are already battling the elements, saving lives, and helping our neighbors in those most impacted areas to our south.
We will have additional information soon on ways we can join together to support our community and those most impacted by the storm.”
Local authorities have decided that they’ll be capable of managing the game and the NFL has agreed with their judgment. Kickoff is on as scheduled at 8:20 p.m. ET at Raymond James Stadium. The Chiefs will leave over the weekend to travel to the area ahead of the game. The Buccaneers are scheduled to return to the area from Miami after Friday’s practice.
