With Hurricane Hilary approaching Los Angeles as a historic storm and no other games scheduled Sunday, the NFL should consider moving this week’s New Orleans Saints preseason matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers into an earlier time slot. Right now the opening kick is set for 6:05 p.m. CT/4:05 p.m. PT at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The latest forecasts from the National Hurricane Center predict Hilary to reach Los Angeles very early Monday morning — as of Friday, the storm had reached Category 4 status, though its long trek through the mountainous Baja California peninsula and the influence of the cold-water California Current is expected to weaken the system to tropical storm status before it approaches America’s second-largest city.
Still, that’s a very tight window for people to stock up on emergency supplies or consider evacuating. Wind won’t be the primary concern with Hilary, but rain will. Heavy rainfall, flash flooding, and mudslides are likely to challenge local emergency services. Louisianans and communities around the Gulf South are familiar with the threats these tropical storms present, but they’re a rare occurrence in South California. The last system to make landfall in the area was the 1939 Long Beach tropical storm which brought historic flooding, killing dozens of people and dealing out millions of dollars in property damage.
All that said to say this isn’t something to take lightly. If you or a loved one are in the area, make preparations now and follow local guidance accordingly.
And it would be very simple for the NFL to accommodate everyone by rescheduling the Saints-Chargers exhibition game for an earlier broadcast window on Sunday. Sure, it’s a national broadcast on NFL Network — but it’s the only NFL preseason game on the Sunday slate. Every other team plays Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. So it’s not like the league would be giving other matchups less attention by moving the game from its scheduled kickoff time.
Moving kickoff up even three or four hours would make life easier for everyone; not just the players, coaches, and staffers who made the trip from New Orleans, but the thousands of fans who traveled to support them and everyone working the Saints media beat. Not to mention the less stress it would put on local emergency responders and government resources as they prepare for a severe weather event.
Canceling the game altogether is another option, but that’s a tough proposition. Both teams have been preparing for weeks and months for this opportunity. Dozens of jobs are on the line for players on the roster bubble who need this opportunity to impress on a big stage. The Chargers, to their credit, are also managing a fundraiser at the game to support relief efforts in the wake of recent Hawaii wildfires. There’s a middle ground between keeping the game as-scheduled and wiping it out entirely.
We’ll see if the decision-makers at the league office in New York agree. Stay tuned.
