The NFL Paris game is still on. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints kick off at Stade de France at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, October 25. The league says it has raised security after a week of protests and riots across France.
The pressure point is Saturday. The Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée Picasso will close that day over the risk of violence during planned marches. France’s culture ministry announced the closures to the Associated Press, in a report carried by Deccan Chronicle. The US Embassy in Paris has now named the game directly in its own warning to Americans.
The embassy’s warning now names the game
The US Embassy in Paris issued a security alert on October 22. It said numerous groups had filed plans for protests on Saturday, October 24. It told Americans in Paris for the NFL game on Sunday to “exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings.”
The alert is blunt about what happened last weekend. It says recent demonstrations “involved heavy property destruction, uncontrolled looting, and attacks on police,” and that police used tear gas. It also notes that the State Department updated its France travel advisory on October 21 to reflect the unrest. France sits at Level 2, “exercise increased caution,” due to terrorism and unrest, according to the embassy site.
We read the embassy’s three alerts from the past week side by side.
| Alert date | What the embassy flagged | Key advice for Americans |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 16 | Nationwide marches set for Oct. 17 by unions, students and workers | Avoid demonstrations, expect Metro closures and road delays |
| Oct. 19 | Violence on Oct. 17, partial curfews in several cities | Watch for local curfews, verify flight schedules |
| Oct. 22 | Possible further rioting, protests filed for Oct. 24 | NFL fans told by name to use caution; curfews may come at short notice |
Read in order, the warnings grow sharper each time. They never move past “use caution,” though. No alert tells Americans to stay away from the game or to leave France.
What happened last Saturday, and why the stadium is a step removed
The protests began over school conditions and grew into a broader revolt over living costs, NBC News reported. About 550,000 people marched across France on Saturday, October 17, according to authorities. Organizers claimed about 800,000, the AP reported via WLOX.
Most marchers were peaceful, but masked groups set fires and looted shops. In Limoges, a fire destroyed the roof of the 19th-century City Hall. Police arrested about 2,400 people over the weekend, the AP reported on October 20. French officials also counted nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes injured, the Deseret News reported.
In Paris, looting and damage centered on Place de la République, the AP reported. Stade de France sits in Saint-Denis, north of the city, about five miles from République, Newsweek reported, citing CBS Pittsburgh. Saint-Denis did see tension, though. NBC reported that the suburb’s mayor once stood between police and protesters.
That distance is the core of the league’s case. The march is Saturday in central Paris, while the game is Sunday afternoon in the suburbs. Paris also hosted Paris Saint-Germain against Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday without incident, NBC noted.
What the NFL and the teams have said
Peter O’Reilly, the league’s executive vice president for international and league events, promised heightened security for the game. Speaking at Tuesday’s owners’ meetings, he said officials are working with French authorities and the US State Department, the AP reported.
“We have never been close to that point,” O’Reilly said of moving the game, per NBC. “We’ve always got contingency plans for every game, every single one of them.”
The league’s chief security officer, Cathy Lanier, has been in Paris for several days. She is a former chief of the Washington, D.C., police department. NBC also reported that the same security and events team that runs the Super Bowl is staging this game.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Wednesday that he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Asked about his comfort level, he answered: “Very high is my comfort level.”
Players have mostly echoed the league. “If it was unsafe, then I’m sure we wouldn’t be here,” Aaron Rodgers told reporters in Paris on Friday, Steelers Now reported. Defensive lineman Cam Heyward described the team’s own rules on “The Rich Eisen Show”: no traveling alone, and stay in groups.
The Steelers did make one change. They cancelled their “Steelers House” fan event in the Bastille neighborhood “following recent events,” NBC reported.
If Saturday turns violent, what happens to Sunday
The French government has promised a much larger police response this time. France deployed about 60,000 police and gendarmes nationwide last Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, the Catalan outlet Ara reported. He also admitted police “lost control” in some cities.
For this Saturday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised a “massive” deployment. Sentinelle army troops will take over static guard posts to free police for crowd control, Nuñez told lawmakers, Reuters reported. None of the reports we read gave a total headcount for Saturday.
Could the game still move? A league source told Fox News Digital’s OutKick that the NFL “can” consider a venue change if conditions warrant, Newsweek reported. The league has done it before. It relocated a Los Angeles Rams game in January 2025 during the wildfires.
But a late move would be a heavy lift, with both teams and thousands of fans already in France. The league’s own words point to where that bar sits. O’Reilly said the NFL is confident the game will not drain “broader resources” police need elsewhere. So the scenario to watch is a Saturday that stretches French forces thin, more than any single clash in central Paris.
What traveling fans should do this weekend
The embassy’s October 22 alert gives specific steps:
- Avoid demonstration areas and any large crowd or heavy police activity.
- Check local government channels for curfews, which can start at short notice.
- Check RATP for Metro closures and SNCF for regional train delays before heading to Saint-Denis.
- Plan alternative routes and allow extra travel time.
- Enroll in the State Department’s STEP program for alerts, and save the embassy’s number, +33 1 43 12 22 22.
Expect a quieter tourist Saturday too. Art Basel Paris also cancelled its weekend programme at the Grand Palais, according to the AP report.
Paris is one of three first-time hosts on the league’s record nine-game international schedule for 2026. France’s street protests have a long pattern too, as our explainer on the 2025 “Block Everything” movement laid out.
The next marker is Saturday’s march itself, which organizers have called nationwide for October 24. Kickoff remains set for 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday. Any new guidance for American fans will appear first on the embassy’s alerts page.
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