As Hurricane Idalia Batters Florida, Its Impact on Sports Remains Limited

The sports world is likely to be largely spared, at least in the near-term, from the impacts of Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall early Wednesday in Florida as a devastating, Category Three storm.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there have been no major game cancellations or postponements as a result of the storm. Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida — near the path of the hurricane — shifted a scheduled Wednesday morning football practice to an afternoon session.

But with four days still to go before a primetime game Sept. 3 in Orlando between the No. 8 Seminoles and No. 5 LSU, the game remains as scheduled. The FSU campus, however, is currently closed.

“While Florida State University has announced the cancellation of classes for the remainder of the week, the scheduled athletic competitions for the week will continue as scheduled unless circumstances require a change,” the Seminoles athletic department said.

MLB, which has grappled with the scheduling complications of numerous hurricanes in recent years, is similarly catching a break with the Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves — the two teams closest to Idalia’s path — both playing road games today.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, however, did cancel practice on Wednesday. There also have been minor league baseball postponements. And numerous high school games in Florida scheduled for Friday have been postponed, in part to keep local first responders focused on storm recovery.