With wildfires continuing to rage in Southern California and no guarantee that the fires will be extinguished over the weekend, the NFL has opted to move Monday's playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings to Glendale, Arizona.
Tickets will go on sale to Rams season ticket holders on Friday. The NFL has not said when the general public can buy tickets.
Before Thursday's announcement, Rams coach Sean McVay addressed the wildfires in Southern California.
"It's one of those deals that almost doesn't feel real, but it certainly is real to the people that are affected. It's one of those deals that gives you perspective," he said at a news conference. "And so hopefully (we) 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 outages, recommended evacuation, a couple of our staff members did have their homes affected, but fortunately, to my knowledge, nobody has been injured, and for that we are grateful."
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Monday's game will be the first NFL postseason game relocated due to a natural disaster. Last year's playoff game between the Steelers and Bills was postponed by one day due to lake-effect snow.
Monday's game marks the second time the Cardinals will host a relocated game due to wildfires. In 2003, wildfires in southern California forced the San Diego Chargers to relocate their home game against the Miami Dolphins to Tempe, Arizona.
The Rams earned a home playoff game by winning the NFC West in a tiebreaker against Seattle. The Vikings, who ended the regular season with the second-best record in the NFC and third-best record in the NFL, will play on the road after losing a game last Sunday to Detroit that served as a de facto NFC North title game.
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