New Orleans’ season opener against the Green Bay Packers will be played at Jacksonville’s TIAA Bank Field, the league announced Wednesday. The game will remain a 4:25 p.m. ET start and be broadcast on FOX.
“The decision was made, in consultation with state and local officials and both clubs, in the interest of public safety,” a league spokesman said. “Details on tickets and other specifics, including how fans can continue to help in the recovery effort, will be announced in the days ahead.”
There were a limited amount of options for location for the Week 1 meeting. First, the Saints are currently based in Dallas, where they’ve spent the week practicing at the Cowboys’ home of AT&T Stadium, however, a concert scheduled for Sept. 15 at the venue made it a non option. Their first two games are against Green Bay and Carolina in Week 2, meaning they’d prefer to avoid traveling any further west than Texas.
Week 1 Update: The NFL announced that the #Saints regular season opener against the @Packers will now be played at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville on Sunday, Sept. 12 (3:25 pm CT) ⚜️ pic.twitter.com/FXXl6mh5wC
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 1, 2021
The Packers-Saints game for Week 1 has been moved to Jacksonville, per @JeffDuncan_ pic.twitter.com/SZhKaAUv5H
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) September 1, 2021