We mentioned a while back that at least one of the Minnesota Vikings' games would have its kickoff time moved back because of new rules with the networks to allow them more time for the early games to finish before switching to the late halves of doubleheaders. However, the Vikings announced today that one of the team's games that was scheduled to be an early start has moved back to a later one.
Per Minnesota Vikings P.R. guru Jeff Anderson, the team's Week 5 match-up against the Tennessee Titans, which was scheduled for a noon Central time kickoff, is now going to begin at 3:25 PM Central time.
The reason for that is because the game is the same day as the Twin Cities Marathon. The race starts near the Metrodome, so moving the game back to a late start will allow more time for the race to get completed before the game gets going.
(And more time for people to get inebriated while tailgating prior to the game. . .but that's a secondary reason.)
(I think.)
So, if you had or have plans to attend the Vikings/Titans game on October 7, be aware of the change.
This makes four of the Vikings' 16 games for 2012 that start at a time other than noon Central. There's this game against the Titans, the game the next week against the Washington Redskins (scheduled to kick off at 3:25 PM Central), the Week 8 match-up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (the Vikings' NFL Network game for this season, scheduled to kick off at 7:20 PM Central on Thursday, October 25), and the Week 9 clash with the Seattle Seahawks (scheduled for a 3:05 PM Central start). That's four games in five weeks that will kick off late for the Vikings, with the Vikings' Week 7 home game against the Arizona Cardinals sandwiched right in the middle.
As it stands now, all of Minnesota's games prior to Week 5 and from Week 10 onwards are set to kick off at noon Central time.