PARIS — The NFL shuttered its primary fan pavilion in Paris on Saturday as widespread demonstrations and heavy security operations disrupted preparations for the league’s inaugural regular-season matchup in France, the New York Post reported.
Through its OnePass application, the league informed fans on Saturday morning that NFL House would close due to what officials described as “potential accessibility issues.” The announcement came one day after organizers shuttered a downtown pop-up merchandise store for identical reasons, according to reporting by Yahoo Sports.
Cancellations and Heightened Security
The operational disruptions spread quickly among both participating franchises ahead of Sunday’s scheduled kickoff between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints. The Saints announced Saturday that their team gathering, Saints House, would be postponed until Sunday. Earlier in the week, the Steelers called off their own planned fan event in the Bastille district, citing local safety concerns.
The disruptions follow weeks of escalating public unrest across France. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that up to 70,000 police officers would be mobilized across the country on Saturday, Yahoo Sports reported. Municipal authorities in Paris permitted only a single organized march route from Bastille to Nation, outlawed other gatherings, and shut down 24 underground metro stations alongside landmark cultural sites including the Louvre and the Orsay Museum.
The civil unrest initially flared in mid-September when students protested overcrowded school facilities and staffing shortages, Yahoo Sports reported. The movement subsequently expanded as labor groups and yellow vest activists organized nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs. Rallies held on Oct. 17 brought out more than 500,000 participants nationwide and resulted in over 2,000 arrests across Paris.
League Presses Forward
The U.S. State Department published a security bulletin this week advising American visitors traveling for the football contest to “exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings,” according to NBC Sports and the New York Post.
Despite mounting public friction and outside commentary urging the league to postpone or relocate the contest to London, league leaders have maintained that the game will occur on schedule at Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Peter O’Reilly, an NFL executive vice president, stated that moving or abandoning the game was never under serious consideration, Yahoo Sports reported.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the operation earlier in the week, telling reporters that planning had been conducted alongside American and French officials and noting that street demonstrations “are not unusual in France.” On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Goodell, Saints owner Gayle Benson and Steelers president Art Rooney II to the Élysée Palace to review game operations and long-term league ambitions in the country.
Sunday’s contest features the 4-2 Steelers, who enter following an overtime victory over Tampa Bay, against the 2-4 Saints, who defeated the New York Giants last week. Whether thousands of traveling ticket holders will encounter travel hurdles reaching the 81,000-seat stadium on Sunday afternoon remains to be seen as transit restrictions persist.
