The AFC Championship Game will be played on Jan. 29, and there are seven possible sites where it will take place.
The Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Jaguars, Chargers and Ravens could all be the host for the game. The only team in the AFC playoff field that can’t host the game is the Dolphins, because they’re the seventh and final seed.
What’s the other potential location for the game? That’s what NFL observers are waiting to learn. League owners voted last week to have the AFC Championship Game at a neutral site in certain conditions after the Bills-Bengals game was canceled following Damar Hamlin’s cardiac event.
Here is the latest on what’s being said about a potential neutral-site location for the game.
Just one matchup
Because the Chiefs, 14-3, the Bills, 13-3, and the Bengals, 12-4, all won their Week 18 games, the only potential matchup that would require a neutral site game is Kansas City vs. Buffalo. Even if Cincinnati had defeated the Bills in the canceled game, its record wouldn’t have been as good as the Chiefs’, so the Bengals would be headed to Arrowhead if that’s the AFC title game matchup.
Coming soon
Mark Maske, NFL Reporter for the Washington Post, tweeted Wednesday that we could soon learn what neutral site has been chosen.
“The NFL has been working on determining the neutral site for a potential Bills-Chiefs meeting in the AFC championship game,” Maske wrote. “It’s possible that decision could come this week.”
CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones also reported the league plans to make an announcement this week.
Indoor or outdoor?
Arrowhead Stadium and the Bills’ Highmark Stadium are outdoor venues, so should the game be played in a city without a domed stadium?
The NFL Network’s Rich Eisen thinks so. Eisen addressed that topic late last week before the Bengals were eliminated from contention for the top seed.
“I will say it should be outdoors. It should be outdoors because if the game was in Kansas City, if the game was going to be in Buffalo or the game’s gonna be in Cincinnati, it’s gonna be outdoors,” Eisen said on his talk show. “You should play it in a cold weather site. Because it would have been at a cold weather site anyway and these teams are built to play in the cold weather. And that’s the way it was gonna be so you might as well have it outdoors.”
Eisen added that he thought Met Life Stadium in New York wouldn’t be fair to the Chiefs because “you want Kansas City fans to either have a short flight, or a drivable distance.”
However, the NFL didn’t rule out playing in a domed stadium.
“The location still could be indoors, according to Michael North, NFL vice president of broadcast planning,” the Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan reported. “North is working with the events group, overseen by NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly, to manage the selection process. …
“Proximity to the AFC Championship contenders’ home cities is also a criteria, as North referenced ease of access for the teams’ fans. But the main attribute is the availability of the venue.”
They’re out
Two cities are out of the running: Indianapolis and Detroit.
Fox59, quoting the Indianapolis Business Journal, said the city turned down the NFL’s request to play host to the AFC Championship Game on either Jan. 28 or Jan. 29.
Nearly 30,000 people are expected in Indianapolis that weekend for a volleyball tournament, the television station reported.
The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Detroit is out of the running because the Lions’ playing surface at Ford Field is set to be replaced.
Possible locations
Two key factors in deciding which neutral site to use for an AFC Championship Game: plentiful hotel rooms and a big airport. Not only would the teams be flying into the city for the game, but so would most fans.
Eisen suggested Soldier Field in Chicago, which would check those two boxes.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio’s three preferences: Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, and Soldier Field.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer was probably just hoping this would be a choice when he tweeted about it: the Rose Bowl.
Rapoport tweeted last week that Atlanta was an option for a potential AFC Championship Game. On Wednesday, Bob Fescoe of KCSP (610 AM) tweeted: “It’s likely Atlanta is going to be the AFC Title Game neutral site.”
One other option: Las Vegas. While it seems unlikely the Bills would want to fly that far west, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the “Raiders are ready to open Allegiant Stadium as the host venue.”