The NFL wanted the City of Light as a backdrop for Sunday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints, the league’s first regular-season game in Paris.
Instead, they’re getting a city of protest.
League officials have insisted that the demonstrations — which have exploded into cultural-clashing riots — would not affect Sunday’s game.
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But they’re forcing adjustments to the week’s festivities.
The Steelers announced Thursday that they would cancel their planned “Steelers House” fan event.
“Following recent events in the Bastille neighborhood, and after careful consideration, we felt it appropriate not to move forward with the event,” the franchise said in a statement.
The league has been reticent to change any plans for the game itself. Kickoff is still set for 2:30 p.m. local time — and 9:30 a.m. Eastern time — at the Stade de France.
“We’ve made all the preparations,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “Protests are not unusual in France, as you know, and that’s something that we will be aware of and make sure that the appropriate arrangements are made.”
Goodell noted that other sporting events have continued since the protests began in September. On Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain hosted Barcelona for a Champions League soccer game. It went off without a hitch.
NFL officials noted that their confidence shouldn’t be mistaken for nonchalance. Vice President of Security Cathy Lanier, the former chief of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, has been scouting the situation in Paris all week.
Goodell noted that league officials have remained in close communication with Parisian authorities and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Security will be heightened on Sunday.
“There’s nothing more important from our standpoint than the teams’ security, the fans’ security — everybody involved with this game,” Pete O’Reilly, executive VP of club business, international and league events, said earlier this week, “obviously being very vigilant in everything we do, in all of our planning on an hour-by-hour basis, working closely with the two teams.”
The league is stuck walking a precarious balance beam. The point of international games — especially those in new markets, like Paris — is to expand the game. NFL officials has for years compared the week leading up to international games to miniature Super Bowl celebrations.
But it’s hard to celebrate when a country is struggling. More than 2,000 people were arrested during riots last weekend. Curfews are in place for the upcoming weekend.
“I think being in Paris is one of the most beautiful things you can be a part of,” Saints tight end Juwan Johnson told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “It has so much history. It has so much things going on. But I think the biggest thing is just praying for them. With everything that’s going on, I think they’re exercising what they want as far as change and stuff. Us as outsiders, we just want to be as safe as possible.”
That’s meant toning down the usual string of pregame celebrations and events, even if the game will go on as scheduled.
“It does put an overall damper on how much they can market,” said Lisa Delpy Neirotti, head of the sports management program at George Washington University. “You don’t want to come into a foreign country and pretend nothing is going on. You have to walk a fine balance.”
For the NFL, countless hours of marketing and event planning were ultimately unused. The event is unlikely to have the same influence that the league initially wanted. But, at the very least, the Steelers and Saints will take the field on Sunday.
“It’s a significant loss, and not just of this week,” Ms. Delpy Neirotti said, noting that you have to take into account “all of the manpower and all of the planning and the money that [have] gone in ahead of time. … Despite that, you have to make a decision about respecting the local culture.”
The protests are not currently aimed at the NFL’s presence. The league will want to keep it that way, despite the support from the subject of the protests: the French government.
“From what I hear right now, they’re probably toning down some of their messaging,” Ms. Delpy Neirotti said. “So the backlash doesn’t come to the NFL and stays with the state.”
If the upcoming matchup comes as planned, the league could return to Paris next year. Mr. O’Reilly noted this week that the league “likes continuity.”
Madrid, Spain, received a game for the second season in a row after last year’s success. Germany has hosted an annual game since 2022. London has hosted multiple games each year since 2013, with the exception of the pandemic season of 2020.
Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Goodell have alluded to adding a 10th international game in 2027 after hosting a record nine matchups overseas this season.
Paris, depending on Sunday’s reception, could be back on the docket soon.
The Steelers planned to make their trans-Atlantic flight on Thursday night. The Saints have spent the week in France as the designated home team.
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