After the NFL’s owners voted to pass a resolution to change the AFC playoff rules in the wake of the medical emergency suffered by Bills safety Damar Hamlin, the possibility of playing the conference championship game at a neutral site became a legitimate possibility. As a result, the league has begun to survey its options around the country, a task that’s already proving to be more difficult than expected.
Indianapolis had reportedly turned down a request from the NFL to potentially host the AFC championship game, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. The city cited “scheduling conflicts” as the primary reason for doing so after the league asked earlier this week about hosting the game on Jan. 28 or 29.
Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts and the primary option to host a conference championship in Indianapolis, already has an event scheduled for that same weekend: a national volleyball tournament hosted by Capitol Sports Center that is expected to bring about 30,000 people to the downtown Indianapolis area.
“After the NFL reached out to the Colts to explore the possibility of Indy hosting the AFC Championship as a neutral site, the Capital Improvement Board and Visit Indy quickly touched base with … Capitol Sports Volleyball, which has grown each and every year it has been in the city,” Chris Gahl, executive vice president of Visit Indy, said to the IBJ. “With 30,000 volleyball players, families and fans coming in to spend the same weekend for the event [as the championship game], based on timing, that event had to stay in place as it was.”
Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium isn’t the first possible neutral site suggested that won’t be eligible to host the NFL’s penultimate game. Ford Field in Detroit had already scheduled a planned change-out of their turf in mid-January, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, rendering the venue unavailable for a conference championship game.
A neutral site for the AFC championship game isn’t a guarantee, but after the league declared the Bills-Bengals game from Monday night a no contest, the championship contests could be held on a neutral field if the two teams participating played in a different number of games.
If the Chiefs (13–3) and the Bills (12–3), have the same result this weekend and then meet in the conference championship game that matchup will be played on a neutral field. Additionally, if the Chiefs lose and the Bengals win, those two teams would play at a neutral site should they meet in the AFC title game.
