LSU-BYU football season opener moved to Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Another hurricane is impacting an LSU football game.

The Tigers’ season opener against BYU has officially moved out of Houston because of the historic flooding in Texas created by Hurricane Harvey. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is the new site of the game scheduled Saturday night at 8:30 on ESPN.

ESPN first announced the change Monday afternoon:

“First and foremost, we are keeping the citizens of the Houston region, and the thousands of first responders, in our thoughts during this very difficult time,” said Pete Derzis, ESPN senior vice president of college sports programming and events. “Over the last 72 hours, we have been in constant contact with all entities involved, including our partners at the Lone Star Sports & Entertainment, the SEC and both institutions. Ultimately, the decision was made to move forward with the relocation.

“During the last few days, we were overwhelmed with the outreach by the communities offering to host this event, specifically, Dallas, Jacksonville, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando and San Antonio. We have great partners within those cities through the Football Bowl Association and we appreciate their energy in finding a solution.

“Efforts are underway in New Orleans and we will work with the fans, the Superdome, the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau and both schools throughout the week to ensure the most optimal game day experience for all.”

LSU-BYU was scheduled as the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff held annually at NRG Stadium in Houston.

“ESPN had to make a difficult decision and we are well aware of the awful circumstance that led to this move,” said LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva in a release by the school. “Every storm is different, but we in Louisiana understand a little about what all of those in Harvey’s path are going through right now. It’s heartbreaking and our prayers go out to all who are impacted.”

Alleva said all parties involved worked closely to find a solution.

“During the last few days, we were overwhelmed with the outreach by the communities offering to host this event, specifically, Dallas, Jacksonville, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando and San Antonio,” said Derzis. “We have great partners within those cities through the Football Bowl Association and we appreciate their energy in finding a solution.”

“I want to thank my staff here, ESPN, NRG officials and BYU for the professionalism with which this was all conducted,” said Alleva.

The Superdome was available and already set up for football with the NFL preseason game between the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens scheduled for Thursday night this week. The city of New Orleans is a great fit in this situation although LSU has not played a neutral site regular season game here in a very long time, as Lenny Vangilder noted on CCS.

LSU also released refund details for those who bought tickets for the game in Houston:

ADVOCARE TEXAS KICKOFF REFUND INFORMATION

Tickets and parking passes purchased through the LSU ticket office for the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff will be automatically refunded beginning tomorrow, August 29th. Ticketholders can expect to see the balance of their purchase refunded by September 5th.

The LSU ticket office will work in conjunction with AdvoCare Texas Kickoff officials to set up a purchasing structure for that event. LSU will alert fans when tickets are available.

For more information visit http://lsutix.net or contact the LSU Tickets Office at (225) 578-2184 or toll free at 1-800-960-8587.