The NFL has officially moved the location of Monday’s wild card round matchup between the Rams and Vikings from SoFi Stadium in California to State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
The move comes as wildfires continue to wreak havoc on Los Angeles County, causing 30,000 acres to burn and a mᴀss exodus of people.
The league said on Wednesday it was monitoring the situation and that the Cardinals’ home stadium would serve as the alternate venue if need be.
In a statement on Thursday, the NFL said the decision was made “in the interest of public safety” and that it was made “in consultation with public officials, the participating clubs and the NFLPA.”
The decision comes on the heels of the Rams practicing on Thursday as smoke billowed just beyond their Woodland Hills facility.
The team had also allowed players to skip required media obligations so they could get back to their homes after a new fire broke out in the West Hills neighborhood of Southern California, NFL Network reported.
“Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with everybody that’s been affected by these fires,” Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters on Thursday. “It’s one of those deals that almost doesn’t feel real, but it certainly is real to the people that are affected. Praying that as many people are OK, and you just see the amount of people that are affected and it’s one of those deals that it gives you perspective. Hopefully, they get this stuff under control. It’s been a unique week.
“Fortunately for us, there’s been some people that have been affected in regards to power outages, recommended evacuations — a couple of our staff members did have their homes affected — but fortunately to my knowledge, nobody has been injured. For that, we’re grateful.”
NBA and NHL games in the LA area have also been impacted by the wildfires.
The Kings and Flames game on Wednesday was postponed and on Thursday the Lakers game against the Hornets at Staple Center was also postponed.
