Ravens to open season on the road
The Baltimore Ravens will be forced to play their 2013 season opener on the road after the team was unable to work out a solution with the Orioles.
The Orioles have a game scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET on Sept. 5 against the Chicago White Sox, making it impossible for the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens to play host to a game that evening because of traffic and parking concerns.
The Ravens were hoping to pull off a twin bill in downtown Baltimore.
"After thorough discussions among the Orioles, the NFL and the Ravens, it became clear that holding both an Orioles' game and the Ravens' regular-season opener on the same day would create logistical situations that would cause serious issues for the city of Baltimore and fans for both teams," Ravens president Dick Cass said in a statement. "The Ravens greatly appreciate the willingness of the Orioles to adjust the start of their game in an effort to make this sports spectacular happen. But, in the end, anticipated problems with parking, rush-hour traffic, plus crowd and car congestion around Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium will keep the doubleheader from taking place."
The Orioles issued a statement expressing their regret that both games couldn't be played on the same date.
"Given the limited options available to reschedule the game at that late date in the season, the parties jointly determined that even an earlier start time would still create such enormous logistical difficulties that it would greatly diminish the fan experience for both events which all parties realized would not be in the interest of their fans or the City."
The Ravens will kick off the NFL season away from M&T Bank Stadium in the NFL's Thursday night season opener on Sept. 5.
"While we are disappointed for the fans in Baltimore, we appreciate the efforts of the Ravens, Orioles and Major League Baseball and understand the logistical problems in trying to schedule the teams on the same day," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "We are exploring potential fan activities in Baltimore around the kickoff game, including a pregame concert."
