Vikings at Rams to Be Played in Arizona, If Necessary

We have our alternative venue

Earlier today, we talked about the NFL mentioning that they were monitoring the conditions in Los Angeles with the wildfires as it pertains to Monday night’s Wild Card playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams. As of now, the game is still scheduled for Monday Night at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, but in the event that it is no longer feasible to play there, the NFL has announced the alternative plan.

If Monday’s game can no longer be played in Los Angeles, it will be played on Monday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, home of the Arizona Cardinals.

Los Angeles to Glendale isn’t the shortest of trips for Rams fans who potentially want to go to this one. According to Google Maps, it’s about a six-hour drive. It also happens to be the home of one of the Rams’ divisional rivals. Given how well Vikings fans have traveled in recent years, it’s worth speculating how much this could potentially throw off the balance in the crowd for what is supposed to be a Rams’ home game.

The statement from the NFL does not specify when the final call from changing the venue will have to be made, but you would have to think that it would need to be relatively soon for logistical purposes.

As stated in the previous post, pretty much everyone realizes that a football game is not the highest of priorities right now, given the state of things in Southern California at the moment. But, since we’re covering this from a football perspective, we thought it was necessary to bring this to you, and we will continue to provide updates on the situation and the game itself as more things come out.

UPDATE: Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network points out that Glendale has played this role in past years. It happened in 2003 when the Cardinals’ previous stadium hosted a game between the Miami Dolphins and the San Diego Chargers when San Diego needed to be evacuated due to fires. State Farm Stadium also hosted the home games for the San Francisco 49ers when the Niners couldn’t use their stadium in Santa Clara because of COVID concerns.