When the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints meet on Sunday in the NFL's first regular-season game hosted in Paris, they will do so with an intense civil unrest as the backdrop. Protests in the French capital will not impact the NFL Week 7 game, but they did lead to the cancellation of a fan event. The Steelers announced on Thursday that they will not hold the scheduled Steelers House gathering due to the protests.
The event was scheduled to unfold over the weekend near the Bastille. There is an authorized march scheduled to begin at Place de la Bastille on Saturday. Sunday's game, meanwhile, will unfold at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, which is located just under six miles from the center of Paris and away from the scheduled demonstrations.
"Following recent events in the Bastille neighborhood, and after careful consideration, we felt it appropriate not to move forward with the planned Steelers House fan event in Paris," the Steelers said in a statement. "Preparations for Sunday's NFL Paris game at State de France continue as planned, with the NFL working closely with local authorities and partners on all operational and security matters." There have thus far been no disruptions at NFL sites in the lead-up to Sunday's contest. While concerns over fan and player safety heightened over the last two weeks, the league insisted repeatedly that the game would go on as planned.
The NFL first addressed the concerns on Oct. 14 when it stated it looks forward to welcoming fans to Paris later this month. One measure the NFL will enact, though, is an increase in security. NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events, Peter O'Reilly, said this week that the security presence "will be heightened" as the league works in tandem with local authorities and the U.S.
He said the NFL has had people in Paris since early October and that they are "being very vigilant in everything we do, in all of our planning on an hour-by-hour basis." Former NFL Security Committee member and current CBS Sports analyst Amy Trask said that while teams handle international travel differently from one another, they share similar rules with regard to curfews and activities outside of game day. Trask also detailed the role security plays in these overseas competitions. "You've got security on site the moment people are approaching the venue," Trask said.
"In other words, the security is not simply at the gate when people are entering the venue. There is security well outside of the venue. There is security before you even enter the parking lot, so there will be security throughout the area.
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