Hurricane Milton: Memphis vs. USF game relocated from Raymond James Stadium

Hurricane Milton brought historic rainfall and flooding to the Central Florida area the past few days, causing extensive damage in the region. The Tampa Bay area in particular got hit particularly hard. Milton has forced plenty of sports teams in the area to change the locations of their games. The Memphis–USF college football game on Saturday has been moved to Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

The game was originally supposed to be played in USF’s home field, which is Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay.

The game will be played Saturday at 3:30 PM EST and will be televised on ESPN+, according to Matt Murschel of The Orlando Sentinel. According to a report from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, site surveys are still being conducted but Raymond James Stadium and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training facility “seem to have sustained only cosmetic damage.”

Tropicana Field, for example, suffered devastating roof damage from Hurricane Milton. The fabric covering was shredded, exposing the field below to the elements.

More on Hurricane Milton in the state of Florida

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night, according to the AP, after getting as strong as Category 5 over the Gulf of Mexico. A Category 3 Hurricane has wind speeds between 111 and 129 miles per hour, but surge levels could go as high as 8-12 feet, according to The Weather Channel.

Evacuations were underway throughout the week as residents made preparations for the major storm to hit Florida’s west coast and make its way across the state. It was also making an impact on the sports world as teams in Florida drew up contingency plans.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were forced to evacuate ahead of this week’s game against the New Orleans Saints and left Tuesday after changing travel plans. They relocated all team operations to New Orleans as Hurricane Milton made its way toward Tampa and Florida’s west coast.

“In advance of Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall, the Buccaneers will depart Tampa on Tuesday morning,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers Communications posted on Twitter. “The team will relocate operations to the New Orleans area for the remainder of the week leading up to Sunday’s game at the Saints. Media availabilities will be conducted virtually beginning on Wednesday.”

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.