Sports are secondary when it comes to natural disasters.
Logistics and scheduling for college football, the NFL and NHL have already been impacted in the Southeast as the threat of Hurricane Milton looms. The storm is expected to hit Florida as a major hurricane Wednesday or Thursday.
Hurricane Milton was considered a powerful Category 4 hurricane Tuesday morning and is projected to return to Category 5 status, per the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane is the strongest storm in the Gulf of Mexico since 2005 and is expected to make landfall in Tampa on Wednesday, according to the New York Times, which is tracking the storm. It looms as the largest hurricane threat the Tampa area has faced in more than a century.
“Let’s prepare for the worst, and let’s pray that we get a weakening,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday morning. “But we must be prepared for a major, major impact to the west coast of Florida.”
College football
In college football, the Memphis at South Florida game was postponed a day because of Milton’s impending threat. It was rescheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. It was initially scheduled for Friday night.
“The conference and teams will assess the conditions and overall situation after the storm has passed to determine if further adjustments are necessary,” the American Athletic Conference said in a statement Tuesday.
South Florida counts 31 players from what it considers the Tampa Bay area on its roster. There are at least 54 players from areas that could be impacted.
Other games in Florida, such as Cincinnati at UCF in Orlando, and North Texas at FAU in Boca Raton, could also be impacted, but scheduling changes were not announced as of Tuesday morning.
“We are actively tracking Hurricane Milton and its possible effects on this weekend’s matchup,” UCF Football posted on X on Monday night. “Stay safe, everyone!”
That game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orange County.
North Texas-FAU is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET Saturday at FAU Stadium, located about half an hour north of Fort Lauderdale.
NFL
The NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers left the Tampa area early, departing Tuesday morning, ahead of Sunday’s game against the Saints in New Orleans. The team said it would relocate its operations to the New Orleans area for the rest of the week due to Hurricane Milton’s threat. The team typically practices at its training facility in Tampa.
In advance of Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall, the Buccaneers will depart Tampa on Tuesday morning. The team will relocate operations to the New Orleans area for the remainder of the week leading up to Sunday’s game at the Saints. Media availabilities will be conducted…
— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) October 7, 2024
The Week 6 game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
NHL
The NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning canceled a preseason game against the Nashville Predators on Monday. That game was originally rescheduled from Sep. 27 due to the effects of Hurricane Helene, which caused significant damage in the area.
The Lightning face the Carolina Hurricanes in their regular-season opener in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday. The Lightning did not announce whether the team would depart early for Raleigh in preparation for the storm.
Stay safe, everyone. 💙
If you are in the Tampa Bay area, we encourage you to look at your county for specific safety guidelines.
A few helpful resources ⬇️
Hillsborough: https://t.co/MmkYoiZppT
Pinellas: https://t.co/VQhEnBOz8K
Pasco: https://t.co/kRI30KHUka pic.twitter.com/c9gegxXuKO— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 7, 2024
(Photo: Al Messerschmidt / Getty Images)
