TAMPA, Fla. — The "Sunday Night Football" game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs will be played in Tampa as originally scheduled, the NFL announced Thursday.
Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium had been in question as Hurricane Ian threatened Florida's Gulf coast, but the Category 4 storm made landfall in southwest Florida, about 150 miles south of Tampa.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the many thousands in the southwest Florida region who have been severely impacted by Hurricane Ian," the team said in a statement. "We are also very thankful that the Tampa Bay area was spared the most damaging consequences of this powerful storm."
The Bucs have spent much of this week in South Florida practicing at the Miami Dolphins' facility in Miami Gardens.
If the game couldn't be played in Tampa, the NFL's contingency plan was to move it to Minneapolis.
A college football game between South Florida and East Carolina that was initially scheduled to be played at Raymond James Stadium this weekend was moved to Boca Raton.
Sunday's game is set to begin at 8 p.m. on WPTV.
