Buccaneers vs. Chiefs to remain in Tampa after Hurricane Ian originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Sunday Night Football won't be on the move this week.
The Kansas City Chiefs versus Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Sunday night will be played as scheduled at Raymond James Stadium after Hurricane Ian moved through the region, the Bucs announced Thursday.
The NFL had set U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings, as a contingency site for the game if it needed to be moved due to the hurricane.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the many thousands in the Southwest Florida region who have been severely impacted by Hurricane Ian. We are also very thankful that the Tampa Bay area was spared the most damaging consequences of this powerful storm," the Bucs' statement read. "We have informed the NFL, after consulting with local and state agencies, that we are ready to play Sunday night's game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium as originally scheduled.
"We would like to thank all of the local government agencies and the thousands of emergency personnel who worked tirelessly over the past few days to ensure that our area would be ready to respond if needed. We would also like to acknowledge the Miami Dolphins organization for their assistance and hospitality in allowing us to use their practice facilities this week."
The Bucs shifted their football operations from Tampa to Miami on Tuesday ahead of the storm and spent the week practicing at the Dolphins' training complex in Miami Gardens.
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The Buccaneers also postponed the team's Ring of Honor induction for former head coach Bruce Arians, which was originally planned for halftime of Sunday's game and will be moved to a later home game.
The hurricane forced location changes or postponements for numerous college football games that were scheduled to be played in the state of Florida this weekend.
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The Florida Gators' game against Eastern Washington that was originally scheduled for Saturday was moved to Sunday at noon ET. The game between South Florida and East Carolina, which was set to be played in Tampa Bay on Saturday night, was moved to Boca Raton.
The NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, who moved their training camp to Nashville, rescheduled their preseason home opener against the Carolina Hurricanes from Wednesday to Tuesday.
Their game scheduled for Thursday in Tampa Bay against the Nashville Predators will be played in Nashville.
