Saints vs. Packers Week 1 matchup to be played in Jacksonville at TIAA Bank Field

The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers will open up their 2021 regular season at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, the NFL announced on Wednesday. Amie Just and Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com were the first to report the venue change. This game will remain in the same time slot on Sept. 12 with kickoff occurring at 4:25 ET. The Saints also announced on Wednesday night that pre-sale tickets for their game vs. Green Bay in Jacksonville will go on sale Thursday.

Originally, this game was to be held at the Saints’ Caesars Superdome, but the aftermath of Hurricane Ida has forced the league to move the game out of New Orleans and could potentially keep the team out of New Orleans for a month as Louisiana continues to recover from the storm. The Superdome did not sustain any structural damage during Hurricane Ida, per NOLA.com, but the city of New Orleans remains without power, making it essentially impossible to host an NFL game given the circumstances. 

TIAA Bank Field — the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars —  was the closest stadium to New Orleans that was available. Other nearby sites like Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and NRG Stadium in Houston have NFL games going on that day. Meanwhile, Dallas’ AT&T Stadium was unavailable that day due to a previously scheduled concert. 

As for the Jaguars, they’ll be in Houston to face the Texans on that Sunday, and TIAA Bank Field had no other conflicting concerts or events, opening the window for the Saints and Packers to begin the season on time. 

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