Each new NFL season typically starts with the defending Super Bowl champion playing in prime time on Thursday night in Week 1. Last season was an exception with the Bears and Packers opening the year to celebrate the league’s 100th season, but the Super Bowl champ usually plays the first game.
That may not be the case in 2020 with new stadiums set to open in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. At his state of the NFL press conference on Wednesday, commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the possibility of next season starting at SoFi Stadium with either the Rams or Chargers.
He was asked if there would be a concern about a 5 p.m. PT kickoff on a Thursday night, potentially causing fans to show up to the stadium late due to heavy Los Angeles traffic. While that would be taken into consideration, it’s not a huge worry.
“From our standpoint, we look at not only celebrating the Super Bowl champion, but as you point out, we are going to be relaunching two teams in Los Angeles and one team in Las Vegas,” he said. “In addition, we’ll be celebrating our 100th birthday on September 17. So when we’re sitting down, which we’ve already begun, looking at the schedule for next year, our hope would be to create the biggest and best platform for all those events. They’re very significant to the future of the league. We’re thrilled to be back in Los Angeles with two teams and we’re thrilled to have a great new stadium, which is going set a benchmark for stadiums.”
He continued by saying the league would be open to putting SoFi Stadium in prime time on either Thursday or Sunday night in Week 1, but the NFL does have to take into account the acclimation period that comes with a new stadium’s first game.
“Our job is to put the biggest stage together for all of those teams at that moment. And so we will do that obviously through scheduling,” Goodell added. “We do have the flexibility to move the Super Bowl champ to either Thursday or Sunday – we are required by policy, it’ll be one or the other. So we could very well start in Los Angeles on a Sunday to avoid [the traffic] problem. We are going to be playing prime-time games in Los Angeles at some point in time, but the likelihood around the first event, as you know, there’s a period of time where there’s an acclimation for everybody getting in and out of the stadium. But I think it’s going to be such a huge event, I’m not worried about a lack of fans there.”
The Rams are the ones building the stadium thanks to owner Stan Kroenke footing most of the bill, so they should be given the chance to play the home opener at SoFi Stadium. They have some marquee teams on their home schedule in 2020, including the Cowboys, Patriots, and of course the Seahawks and 49ers.
No matter which game opens SoFi Stadium next season, it’s bound to be packed with fans anxious to get a look at the state-of-the-art venue. It just remains to be seen when the first game will be played.