The NFL may need a neutral site for the AFC Championship Game.
The NFL likes Hard Rock Stadium enough that it’s back in the Super Bowl rotation, with Miami a favorite destination this time of year.
So could the AFC title be decided at Hard Rock Stadium?
Friends, family of Seneca Wilson relive tragedy watching Damar Hamlin’s injury
Mike Slaughter prepares the templates and David Signer sprays down the red paint as the turf crew from ASM Jacksonville outlines the 3’s on the 30-yard line with red paint Friday morning. The “Buffalo Bills red” is a tribute to Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who wears the No. 3 and is recovering from cardiac arrest. The crews are prepping for Saturday night’s Jaguars game against the Tennessee Titans, with a playoff berth at stake.
Unlikely, even though the NFL inquired about the stadium’s availability. Not unless Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes are willing to go winner-take-all in a best-of-five-set tennis match.
The Dolphins’ use of the stadium will end after Sunday’s regular-season finale vs. the New York Jets, with a wild-card playoff berth the best Miami can hope for.
The AFC Championship Game is scheduled for Jan. 29, but by then, Hard Rock will be prepping for the Miami Open tennis tournament. Just because football season ends, things don’t shut down at the stadium. Shortly after the tennis tournament is the second annual Formula One race around the stadium. Plus concerts.
NFL owners approved a plan Friday that would send the AFC Championship Game to a neutral site if the qualifying teams played an unequal number of games because of the cancellation of the Bengals-Bills game after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed Monday night. The need for a neutral site will revolve around certain results this weekend and involve the Chiefs playing the Bills or Bengals in the AFC title game.
“As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “I recognize that there is no perfect solution.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Could Hard Rock Stadium be site of the AFC Championship Game?