NFL officials are exploring options involving Sunday’s Eagles-Redskins game in case Hurricane Joaquin impacts the D.C. area this weekend, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
The league is “monitoring the forecast and having discussions with both teams,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the paper.
Though Aiello declined to say what options are being explored, making weather-related contingency plans is not new to those in the NFL office who handle such things.
Two games in the last five years have been moved to Detroit’s Ford Field due to heavy snow elsewhere. The entire Saints’ 2005 home schedule was moved due to damage Hurricane Katrina caused to the Superdome, and two Dolphins games have been postponed or delayed due to hurricane-like conditions in South Florida.
Forecast models differ on what kind of extreme weather the hurricane could bring to the D.C. area and when it may arrive.
Big Ten Network already canceled on-site coverage of Saturday night’s Michigan-Maryland game in College Park, Md., due to uncertainty about weather conditions, and the Big Ten Conference is considering moving or postponing the game depending on the severity of conditions. College Park is about seven miles north of FedEx Field, where the Eagles and Redskins are scheduled to play at 1 p.m. Sunday.