Just imagine planning a touchdown celebration in the heart of the City of Love. The event is in Paris; however, the fans realised suddenly that the entire stadium—and the surrounding streets—are completely locked by a massive civil protest.

For the American NFL fans this was the reality and for the league officials as well. They faced it when the NFL's highly anticipated pop-up experience, NFL House Paris, was forced to shut its doors as intense local demonstrations swept across the French capital. 

For an American audience who are very used to sports functioning no matter what happens outside, this sudden clash with the gridiron culture and French activism served as a prominent reminder of how fast international politics can sideline even the world's most powerful sports league.

There have been many security reasons that have raised some concerns and have engulfed the NFL’s debut in Paris. The New Orleans Saints had to make an announcement that “ Saints House has been postponed until Sunday.”

The things and events that were planned Saturday at NFL House included “French Athletes in Football” and “From the Field to the Community.” Fans were defenitely very sad and said different things.

“I was looking forward to just checking out some of the installations they had — they were going to have the Lombardi Trophy,” fan Nick Paiva said.

Museums have been closed due to the protest 

Very significant and major museums, that defenitely include the Louvre and Orsay Museum, are closed Saturday. However the tourists were expecting that it would be open already lined up to enter Notre Dame Cathedral. French legal authorities were adamant about stopping a repeat of recent violent unrest.

Even the State Department of the USA had to issue a security check that made sure to make everyone alert and for the “Americans in Paris for the NFL game” need to “exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings” because of protests.

Just imagine! The French President Emmanuel Macron planned to meet with Goodell along with the 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.”

Monika Allen eho is a Steelers fan, successfully avoided any protests because of the advice posted on fan-led Facebook groups.

“The fans are doing a good job keeping each other informed of where to be and where not to be,” Allen said at the ‘Hail Mary’ event.

Written by

Tanushree Bhowmick

Edited by

Tanushree Bhowmick