With raging wildfires decimating Southern California, the NFL has moved Monday's wild card matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings to State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
The league announced Thursday evening that the relocation was made in the interest of public safety.
VIKINGS-RAMS RELOCATION: In the interest of public safety, Monday's Vikings vs. Rams Wild Card game has been moved to Arizona.
— NFL (@NFL) January 10, 2025
The game will be televised on ESPN/ABC/ESPN+ at its scheduled 8pm ET time. pic.twitter.com/VVJcRZrSYM
The game will start at its originally scheduled time of 5 p.m. PT and air on ESPN and ABC. Tickets for the game will go on sale through Seatgeek.com Friday at 10 a.m. PT for Rams season-ticket holders and at 12 p.m. PT to the general public.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at SoFi Stadium, home of the Rams, in Inglewood, California.
Surrounding areas have been devastated by multiple fires that destroyed thousands of acres and structures and put nearly 180,000 people under evacuation orders.
Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters Thursday that some of the team's staff members' homes were affected by the fires.
"Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with everybody that's been affected by these fires," McVay said. "It's one of those deals that almost doesn't seem real, but it certainly is real to the people that are affected."
The NFL playoffs are slated to begin Saturday, with the Los Angeles Chargers playing on the road against the Houston Texans. The Chargers altered their practice schedule this week to limit players' time outdoors amid poor air quality in Southern California, according to ESPN.
The winner of the Rams-Vikings matchup will advance to the divisional round on Saturday, Jan. 18 and Sunday, Jan. 19. If the Rams advance, they would only host their divisional matchup if both the No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles and No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose their wild card matchups on Sunday.
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"Every time we suit up, we're the Los Angeles Rams," quarterback Matthew Stafford told reporters Thursday. "We play for the people in this community, the people that support us, and this week will be another example of that, obviously. It's, I'm sure, hopefully, a great escape for people who have been going through a lot of tough times here the last couple of days."
Other sporting events in the area have also been impacted by the wildfires. The Los Angeles Lakers' home game against the Charlotte Hornets that had been scheduled for Thursday at Crypto.com Arena was postponed -- with Lakers head coach J.J. Redick reportedly losing his home in the fires. The Los Angeles Kings' matchup against the Calgary Flames originally set for Wednesday was also postponed.
The NFL announced Wednesday that it had a contingency plan in place to move the Rams-Vikings game to Arizona if necessary.
The last time the NFL changed a game's location due to Southern California wildfires was in 2003 when a matchup between the then San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins was shifted to Arizona because of poor air quality.
State Farm Stadium also hosted the San Francisco 49ers for three home games in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
