Buccaneers announce Sunday night game vs. Chiefs will remain in Tampa

Sunday night’s Kansas City Chiefs-Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 4 matchup will remain in Tampa in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the Buccaneers announced Thursday.

“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the many thousands in the Southwest Florida region who have been severely impacted by Hurricane Ian. We are also very thankful that the Tampa Bay area was spared the most damaging consequences of this powerful storm,” the Buccaneers said in a statement. “We have informed the NFL, after consulting with local and state agencies, that we are ready to play Sunday night's game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium as originally scheduled.”

A contingency plan was in place to have the game played at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis if storm damage were too severe to conduct the game safely. The Bucs announced Monday that they were temporarily relocating to the Miami Dolphins' Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens as the hurricane approached.

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“We would like to thank all of the local government agencies and the thousands of emergency personnel who worked tirelessly over the past few days to ensure that our area would be ready to respond if needed. We would also like to acknowledge the Miami Dolphins organization for their assistance and hospitality in allowing us to use their practice facilities this week,” the Bucs said in their statement.

The NFL most recently moved a game for weather reasons in 2021 when Hurricane Ida forced the New Orleans Saints to play Green Bay Packers in Jacksonville, Florida, during Week 1.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday. The Chiefs (2-1) and Bucs (2-1) are both coming off Week 3 losses. The Week 4 contest is a rematch of Super Bowl 55, which Tampa won 31-9.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Buccaneers-Chiefs Sunday night game will remain in Tampa