A tropical storm is set to make landfall in Los Angeles for the first time in 84 years, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and other decision-makers in the league office are determined to play Sunday night’s exhibition game on its established schedule, per multiple reports.
So the New Orleans Saints will kick off with the Chargers while Hurricane Hilary barrels up the West Coast, with damaging winds and torrential rain expected to hit the area around SoFi Stadium as early as Sunday evening, per the National Hurricane Center. The exhibition game will be broadcast on NFL Network at 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. PT, and it’s the only football game on the league’s Sunday schedule.
SoFi Stadium does have a roof, but it isn’t a wholly indoor venue. It doesn’t have fully enclosed walls and gaps in the roof have left rain in before. So bring a poncho if you’ve got tickets.
It would have cost the NFL next to nothing to move kickoff up four, five, or six hours to give both teams, officials, fans, and media covering the game more time to prepare for the expected severe weather or evacuate the area. Other pro sports teams like Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, as well as Major League Soccer’s LAFC and LA Galaxy, decided to reschedule their Sunday games and play double-headers on Saturday.
That wasn’t a viable option for the Saints and Chargers with the Los Angeles Rams scheduled to play at SoFi Stadium on Saturday evening, but the NFL still could have simply moved its kickoff time up a few hours. Instead they risk putting people in danger, and for what? So their panelists can show highlights from Saturday’s preseason games on Sunday afternoon? It’s a bad decision by Goodell and the league office. Hopefully no one gets hurt because of it.
