The NFL has closed its Paris store for Saturday and is moving the shopping to the Stade de France instead, the latest change forced on game weekend by France’s protests. On Friday evening the Paris police prefecture also tore up the union march route it had agreed from Bastille to Nation, the unions said they would go to Bastille anyway and took the ban to court, and the Paris transport operator RATP said 24 Metro and RER stations would close from 9 a.m. Saturday.
Sunday’s game is unchanged. Steelers vs. Saints kicks off at 2:30 p.m. in Paris, 4:30 p.m. in Cairo, at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
The NFL Shop moves to Gate A
The NFL Shop on rue Saint-Merri, the pop-up store near the Centre Pompidou, will be shut on Saturday, October 24, “due to potential accessibility issues,” the league said in a notice posted in French and English on Friday afternoon. It stayed open until 8 p.m. Paris time on Friday.
In its place, a pop-up NFL Shop opens at the Stade de France, Gate A, from noon to 5 p.m. Paris time on Saturday (1 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Cairo), selling game-day merchandise including Nike jerseys, matchup products, Paris Game scarves and hats. “We thank fans for their understanding,” the notice ended.
The shop notice, posted by the league’s French account.
The store is the second fan venue lost to the unrest after the Steelers canceled their Bastille fan bar on Thursday. The full list of game-week fan events, including the store, is in our Paris Game week guide.
The Bastille–Nation march is banned, and the unions are in court
On Thursday the prefecture and the Île-de-France unions had signed off on a march from Place de la Bastille to Place de la Nation starting at 2 p.m. Paris time on Saturday. On Friday afternoon the prefecture banned that route. Its order, published in the evening, says the march may instead be held from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Paris time (2 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Cairo) from the Porte d’Italie to the Porte de Vincennes, along the boulevards des Maréchaux on the southern and eastern edge of the city.
The prefecture said the violence seen last weekend and at the end of recent marches “incite the greatest caution in the choice of routes,” and according to French reports it also cited breakaway marches and Friday’s attack in the Yvelines, where a gunman killed one person in Trappes. The unions, which include the CGT, the CFDT, FO, the FSU and Solidaires along with the main student groups, called the change “unacceptable” and a “dangerous game.” Karl Ghazi, co-general secretary of the CGT in Paris, said the new route was “impossible to secure.” The organizers have said they will gather at Bastille as planned and asked the administrative court in Paris to suspend the order, with a ruling expected on Saturday morning.
The Interior Ministry says the police and gendarme deployment on Saturday will be 20 percent bigger than last weekend’s, with soldiers from the Sentinelle anti-terror force alongside the elite units, armoured vehicles and water cannon announced on Friday. The prefecture has also authorized drone filming over Paris for the day. A ban on gatherings across much of the 7th arrondissement, which includes the Champ-de-Mars, runs until 6 a.m. on Monday, with unaccompanied minors barred from its streets from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night.
24 stations closed from 9 a.m.
At the prefecture’s request, RATP will close these stations from 9 a.m. Paris time (10 a.m. in Cairo) on Saturday. Trains will pass through without stopping, connections there will not run, and the stations reopen only when the prefecture allows:
- Line 1: Argentine, Charles de Gaulle–Étoile, George V, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Champs-Élysées–Clemenceau, Concorde, Tuileries
- Line 4: Saint-Sulpice, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Odéon
- Line 6: Charles de Gaulle–Étoile, Dugommier, Daumesnil, Bel Air, Picpus
- Line 8: Concorde, Daumesnil
- Line 9: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Miromesnil
- Line 10: Odéon, Cluny–La Sorbonne, Mabillon, Maubert–Mutualité, Sèvres–Babylone
- Line 12: Concorde, Sèvres–Babylone, Assemblée nationale, Solférino, Rennes, Rue du Bac
- Line 13: Champs-Élysées–Clemenceau, Miromesnil, Varenne
- RER A: Charles de Gaulle–Étoile
Line 2 will not run between Barbès–Rochechouart and Nation, Line 6 between Kléber and Charles de Gaulle–Étoile, and Line 12 between Madeleine and Notre-Dame-des-Champs. From 10 a.m. the T3a tram stops between Montsouris and Porte de Vincennes and the T3b between Porte de Montreuil and Porte de Vincennes, both until 6 a.m. on Sunday, which clears the boulevards for the prefecture’s route.
For fans, that matters in three places. Concorde and Tuileries, two of the closest stations to NFL House on rue Cambon and the Saints House pop-up at Pavillon Vendôme, are both shut, while Madeleine (Lines 8 and 14) and Opéra stay open. Cluny–La Sorbonne and Maubert–Mutualité, near the Petit Pont, where fans can try the Hail Mary Challenge across the Seine on Saturday morning, are also closed; Saint-Michel and Cité are not on the list. The RER B and D lines to Saint-Denis are not affected.
The league’s French account promoting Saturday’s Hail Mary Challenge at the Petit Pont–Cardinal Lustiger.
Several of the city’s big attractions will also be closed on Saturday. The Culture Ministry said the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Orangerie and the Musée Picasso would not open, the Paris Opera canceled performances and tours at the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille, and the Fondation Cartier, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Bourse de Commerce and the Cirque d’Hiver announced closures as a precaution.
As of early Saturday the league had not announced any change for the NFL Experience Paris by the Eiffel Tower, which Storm Austen shut on Friday. It is due to run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Paris time (11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Cairo), booked through the NFL OnePass app, with the wind forecast to ease. NFL House is due to open from noon to 7 p.m. Paris time.
The Saints get Elliss and Jennings back
Linebacker Kaden Elliss (calf) and edge rusher Anfernee Jennings (knee), both out for the last three games, were full participants on Friday and carry no game status, so both are set to return in Paris. Running back Alvin Kamara (back) was limited all week but also has no designation and is expected to play. Guard Cesar Ruiz (knee) and defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd (illness), who sat out Friday, are questionable. “We’ll just see how he responds and then we’ll go from there,” Kellen Moore said of Ruiz. Rookie receiver Jordyn Tyson made the trip but remains on injured reserve.
Kellen Moore on the Saints’ final injury report and their week of practice in France.
Kicker Daniel Carlson, whose wife is expecting their fourth child, flew in on Friday and was a full participant. “As much as I’d love to be at home and make sure everything is OK — and everything is — I wanted to make sure I had a chance to be here at practice with the team and test the elements and feel what it’s going to be on gameday,” he said. Left tackle Asim Richards wore a heavy wrap on a left thumb hurt against the Giants but said it should not be an issue.
For Pittsburgh, safety DeShon Elliott (knee) and running back Rico Dowdle (knee) are questionable, T.J. Watt was estimated as a full participant and has no status, and Ben Skowronek and Brandin Echols are out. Saturday’s practice, the Steelers’ only one in France, will settle Elliott’s return from injured reserve. Aaron Rodgers’ Friday news conference is covered in our Rodgers report.
Away from the field, the Saints spent Friday evening showing off the city. Kamara posted a lesson in saying “Who Dat” in French, and the team’s mascots took over Paris.
Videos: New Orleans Saints on X.
The Saints’ hype video for the first NFL regular-season game in France.
What comes next (Cairo time)
- Saturday, October 24, morning: court ruling on the march route; 24 stations close at 10 a.m.; Hail Mary Challenge at the Petit Pont from 10 a.m.
- Saturday, October 24: Steelers practice; Saints walk through at the Stade de France; decisions on DeShon Elliott and Cesar Ruiz
- Saturday, October 24, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.: pop-up NFL Shop at the Stade de France, Gate A; NFL House 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, October 24, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.: authorized march window, Porte d’Italie to Porte de Vincennes; unions plan to gather at Bastille
- Every night until Monday: curfew at République and Châtelet–Les Halles, 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Paris time
- Sunday, October 25, 4:30 p.m.: Steelers vs. Saints at the Stade de France
Friday’s storm closures and the security plan are in our Friday report, and our weekend guide covers stadium transport.
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