The effects of the Paris protests have finally hit the NFL. The league body has now shut its “NFL House” fan venue.
Fans knew through the league’s “OnePass” app. It was the second closure in two days, a day after the NFL shut its pop-up shop, and both times the league cited “potential accessibility issues.”
The NFL said on Friday that the pop-up shop in the city center would be closed Saturday, and it pointed fans to an alternative shop at Stade de France, north of the city in Saint-Denis.
According to ESPN, the Saints also announced that “Saints House has been postponed until Sunday.” Events planned for Saturday at NFL House included “French Athletes in Football” and “From the Field to the Community,” and a weekend event for Steelers fans was canceled Thursday over security concerns.
It’s a tense backdrop for the league’s first-ever regular-season game in France, with the New Orleans Saints playing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Stade de France. Security worries have overshadowed the debut.
Major museums including the Louvre and Orsay are closed Saturday, though tourists were still lining up for Notre Dame Cathedral. French authorities are intent on preventing a repeat of the recent violent unrest. This week, the U.S. State Department issued a security alert telling “Americans in Paris for the NFL game” to “exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings” because of the protests.
The NFL says it prepared with the authorities. Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week that preparations were made in consultation with U.S. and French officials, and that street protests “are not unusual in France.” On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron met Goodell, Saints owner Gayle Benson and Steelers owner Art Rooney II at the Élysée Palace to “discuss Sunday’s game and the long-term future of the NFL in Paris.”
