The Los Angeles Rams won the right to host a playoff game during the 2025 NFL postseason after winning the NFC West over the Seattle Seahawks.
However, the Rams won’t be able to play their first playoff game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Instead, they’ll be posting up at the home of a divisional rival as the Los Angeles Fire Department works to contain devastating wildfires that have ravaged the county over the last week.
The Rams vs. Minnesota Vikings contest is the first NFL playoff game to be relocated since the Super Bowl era, which dates to 1966.
Here’s what to know about the Rams vs. Vikings wild card game and where it is being played.
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Where is the Rams vs. Vikings game being played?
Venue: State Farm Stadium
Location: Glendale, Arizona
The Rams vs. Vikings game is being played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The stadium is typically home to the Arizona Cardinals but will serve as the temporary home for the Rams after their wild-card matchup with the Vikings was relocated.
State Farm Stadium has a history of providing respite for displaced teams. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it temporarily housed the San Francisco 49ers who could not play games at home due to restrictions on sporting events in Santa Clara County, California.
The Cardinals also once hosted a game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins during the 2003 NFL season because of wildfires near San Diego. At the time, Arizona played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.
Why is Rams vs. Vikings being played in Arizona?
The Rams vs. Vikings game is being played in Arizona because of the ongoing deadly wildfires in Los Angeles County.
The fires began Tuesday, and the Palisades Fire has already become the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history, scorching over 23,000 acres of land, according to reporting from USA TODAY’s Susan Miller, Josh Peter, Adrianna Rodriguez and Thao Nguyen. The Palisades Fire was 14% contained as of Monday. A total of 24 people have died because of the fires with the death toll likely to increase, per California governor Gavin Newsom.
The ongoing blazes led the NFL to announce Thursday it was relocating the game to Arizona ‘in the interest of public safety.’
‘The decision was made in consultation with public officials, the participating clubs and the NFLPA,’ the league said in a statement.
The Cardinals welcomed the Rams to State Farm Stadium with open arms. The organization pulled out all the stops, working with Los Angeles staffers to set up the locker rooms and acquiring the paint needed to redo the field and end zones with Rams colors, among other responsibilities.
‘I spoke to the team later that morning and said, ‘Look if this is gonna happen, let’s get ahead of it,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said, per NFL.com. ‘Let’s get prepared and start thinking about everything that we’ll need to be doing to make this happen.’
‘It’s always a good time to do the right thing,’ he added. ‘If we can do something to help … maybe this is the only thing we can do. Let’s put our energy into it and try to focus on it and make it a great experience, whether it’s the players, their families or the coaches.’
Those little touches will make the stadium feel just a bit more like home for the Rams as they look to set up a divisional-round date with the Philadelphia Eagles.