DALLAS, TX (WSAU) — The NFL has moved the Green Bay Packers season opener against the New Orleans Saints to TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, FL.
The move comes after Hurricane Ida left the city of New Orleans with significant damage, including a widespread power outage that is expected to last for weeks.
Saints players and coaches evacuated to Dallas before the storm making landfall. Since Monday, Head Coach Sean Peyton has made it known that the game likely can’t be played in the Caesars Superdome and that he didn’t want the game moved to Green Bay to give the Packers a home-field advantage.
Other venues considered included all NFL stadiums east of Dallas that were not hosing a Week 1 game such as Chicago’s Soldier Field, US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Reliant Stadium in Houston was out of the question, as the Texans are hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars that week in their opener. The Dallas Cowboys are playing the season kick-off game next Thursday in Tampa against the Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers, however, AT&T stadium is unavailable that Sunday because the venue needs to prepare for a mid-week concert.
The last time the Packers played at TIAA Bank Stadium in Jacksonville, affectionately known to fans as Duval, was the 2016 season opener against the Jaguars. Green Bay won that game 27-23.
New Orleans has previously used the Alamodome in San Antonio and LSU’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge as temporary home venues following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but the NFL would not allow those options this time around- telling the team that the game had to be played in one of the league’s 30 venues.
The game is still scheduled to kick off at 3:25 CT, meaning pregame coverage on September 12th will begin at 1 PM on WSAU.
