Unfortunately, the NFL had no alternative. The club announced on Thursday that the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings ‘ wild card game would be moved from LA’s SoFi Stadium to Arizona Cardinals ‘ State Farm Stadium in Glendale as a number of fires continued to burn across Los Angeles.
Public health was the subject of the NFL’s statement, taking into account concerns about weather quality, neighborhood strain, and potential exorbitant workloads for local police and fire department personnel.
While NFL activities have moved in the past—due to hurricanes, snowfalls and the COVID-19 epidemic, among additional reasons—no playoff contest has had to travel since 1936, when the National Professional Football League tournament was pushed from Boston to New York. In that situation, the issue was low ticket sales in the run-up to the sport.

Pre-existing ticket holders for Monday’s match were offered either a payment or a credit toward future occasions, while fresh receipts went on sale—first for Cardinals and Rams season ticket holders, and then for the common public—on Friday. A similar approach played out for hotel reservations. The NFL says 52, 000 tickets were sold during the first two-hour focus window, with about 35, 000 of those going to Rams time ticket buyers. The team intends to provide buses to SoFi Stadium attendees.
The gate was going to be very large in Los Angeles, and there will be significantly less there, according to Sportscorp president Marc Ganis in a phone call.
The NFL makes up the majority of playoff game ticket sales, while opposing teams receive stipends to cover travel and operating costs. As of Friday, it was unclear how the Rams, Cardinals, and NFL teams would split up their significant share of concessions and parking money.
” The question is,’ How much of the revenue will be retained by the Cardinals?’ and I’m not sure it’s very much”, Ganis said,” But they’re not going to be expected to be out of pocket”.
The University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium had a roof collapse in 2010, and the Vikings were forced to relocate there. The school appreciated the exposure that came with its hosting honors, but the revenue it kept from parking and concessions was not game-changing.
Gameday revenues—typically$ 1 million to$ 2 million —are relatively inconsequential for a team like the Rams, the NFL’s second most valuable franchise, according to Sportico’s calculations, with a 2023 revenue of roughly$ 800 million.

Losing a playoff game is also simpler in some ways than adjusting for a relocated regular season event because sponsor and ticket holders are frequently only taken into account as a bonus when determining the postseason’s value.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Cardinals have lent two of the team’s planes to the Rams, as well as the keys to the team’s practice facility in advance of Monday’s contest.
Business owners around Glendale’s State Farm Stadium could be the biggest beneficiaries. The advantages of having two new groups of out-of-towners could outweigh the lack of local enthusiasm because home playoff games generate millions of dollars worth of additional spending throughout the local economy. Since 2015, the Cardinals haven’t played a home playoff game.
In theory, stadium naming rights sponsor State Farm would also benefit from the exposure. However, the company—the largest home insurer in California—has been criticized for its earlier decision to not renew its policies for an estimated 30, 000 properties across the state, including 1, 600 homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that has since been decimated.
Additionally, players will lose nearly$ 1 million in income taxes. The state has been one of the most agressive tax collectors due to the number of workdays high earners spend there. Much of that money will be retained by players, as they instead spend two days in Arizona, which has a 2.5 % tax rate compared to California’s top rate of 12.3 %.
The most valuable component of the NFL’s media deals is the media deals, which account for the majority of the revenue. For its Saturday night wild card game, Amazon is reportedly paying$ 150 million.
Monday’s broadcast will still be available across ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes.
NFL affiliates have pledged$ 5 million to help those affected by the wildfires that have swept Los Angeles, including$ 1 million that the Kroenke family, who owns the Rams, has given to the LAFD Foundation. An additional$ 1 million will be made available for relief efforts thanks to the Minnesota Vikings and the Wilf Family Foundations.

The fires, which have also claimed at least ten lives since Tuesday morning, have also caused at least$ 50 billion in total economic loss, according to the most recent estimates.
On gameday, both the LA Chargers and the Rams will have custom shirts and hats, and retail copies will be sold with proceeds going to the LAFD Foundation and the American Red Cross. Experiential viewing venue Cosm, which sits next to SoFi Stadium, will show the game, with all ticket proceeds going to the LAFD Foundation.