For the first time ever, Monday Night Football is coming to Ford Field. But the Detroit Lions are not invited.
The game between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings, which was first scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Minnesota and then scheduled for Monday night in Minnesota, will instead be played on Monday night in Detroit, with kickoff at 7:20 p.m. Eastern. The news was confirmed this morning on NFL Network.
Heavy snow re-routed the Giants’ team plane to Kansas City, where the team is still working out travel arrangements to Detroit. Now the Vikings will also need to make travel plans.
Damage to the Metrodome made it impossible for the game to be played on the Vikings’ home field, and the league has determined that an outdoor game at the University of Minnesota’s football stadium wasn’t feasible. So Detroit was considered the next-best option.
The Giants-Vikings game will be shown on the local FOX affiliates for New York and Minnesota, and DirecTV Sunday Ticket subscribers can watch it as well.
There’s no word yet on the ticket situation for Monday night in Detroit, but here’s hoping Vikings ticket holders get a full refund, and fans in Detroit are allowed to attend for free.
UPDATE: NFL spokesman Greg Aiello explains that the University of Minnesota stadium ultimately wasn’t an option. “The Vikings and University of Minnesota have worked cooperatively and diligently on the re-location of the Giants-Vikings game,” Aiello said. “The university, however, has informed the Vikings that unfortuately its stadium was shut down for winter and would take several days to prepare for an NFL game.”