What the Arizona Cardinals are doing to make their stadium look like a Rams home game for the playoffs
The wildfires in the Los Angeles area have devastated entire communities, leaving the NFL with no choice but to move the Rams’ home playoff game on Monday night to Arizona.
And under normal circumstances, one might expect a hastily planned neutral site game to feel like, well, a neutral site. But Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has made it clear that they are doing everything they can to make State Farm Stadium seem like an actual Rams home game.
Bidwill had already sent two Boeing 777 jets to Los Angeles to pick up Rams players, staff, families and pets. But the Cardinals didn’t stop there.
According to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals even went as far as to find 200 gallons of Rams-colored pant in their specific pantone. Via NFL.com:
– They’ve scrambled to get enough paint in Rams colors — Blue PMS 2736 and Yellow PMS 109 — for the field and end zone. To that end, 200 gallons were driven from a factory in Leland, Mississippi to Arizona, all of 1,500 miles, which arrived Saturday. The playoff-themed stencils were shipped from Los Angeles.
– On a few days notice, the team ordered enough food to feed 60,000, and they now have normal, game-day quantities. That means 10,000 hot dogs, 3,000 hamburgers, 4,500 orders of chicken tenders, 5,500 individual pizzas, 3,500 pounds of corn kernels for popcorn, 1,200 pounds of prime rib and 800 pounds of beef tenderloin.
And the steps continued:
– All the Rams equipment that was trucked to Phoenix arrived at the facility at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The Cardinals support staff worked with the Rams until 3:30 a.m. to set it up and be ready for meetings. In addition, the Cardinals cleared out 74 total lockers so the Rams had space. For instance, Marvin Harrison Jr.’s locker is now Puka Nacua’s locker.
The Cardinals will also have the stadium fully staffed as if it were a regular home game. And with the game quickly selling out, the Rams should actually expect a playoff atmosphere despite the distance from SoFi Stadium.
Bidwill added that he would be happy to make the stadium available if the Rams need an alternative home beyond the wild-card round.