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Pittsburgh Steelers cancel Paris fan event amid Bastille unrest

The club called off its planned Steelers House gathering in the Bastille neighborhood. The NFL said its separate fan event and Sunday's game remained scheduled.

View inside Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France.
File photograph of Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, taken June 20, 2019. Daniel from Glasgow, United Kingdom — Daniel Richardson, “Stade de France (48109655122).jpg” (resized and converted to WebP). CC BY 2.0.Image sourceImage licence: CC BY 2.0
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The Pittsburgh Steelers canceled their planned Steelers House fan event in Paris's Bastille neighborhood on Thursday, October 22, citing recent disruptions there. The decision affects a club gathering at a designated bar; the NFL said its separate fan event and Sunday's Steelers-New Orleans Saints game at Stade de France remained scheduled.

A message sent to fans said organizers had decided, after careful consideration, not to proceed with Steelers House following recent events in Bastille. In a statement to the Associated Press, the Steelers called the cancellation a precautionary measure. OutKick separately reported that the club confirmed the decision to it and cited the same neighborhood disruptions.

Which Paris fan event was canceled

The Associated Press reported that O'Sullivans, an Irish pub in Bastille, had advertised a Sunday watch party. The Steelers described the canceled event as their planned designated bar gathering in the area. The club did not identify a disruption at the bar itself in its statement to the AP.

Nicki Ewell, the NFL's vice president for global events, told the AP at NFL House that the club made the cancellation decision. She said the league distributed the message to fans because it had worked with the Steelers to promote the event. No NFL fan events had been affected, Ewell said.

The NFL told OutKick that its Fan House event scheduled for Friday and Saturday remained on the calendar. A league spokesman told the outlet, ‘It's happening.’ The Steelers also said preparations for Sunday's game at Stade de France were continuing, with the NFL working with local authorities and partners on operations and security.

Security plans for the Steelers-Saints game

The cancellation follows recent street protests in Paris. Further demonstrations could take place over the weekend, the AP reported. The club's decision therefore changes one gathering planned for Steelers supporters while the league continues to prepare for the game and its own fan event.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday that he had a high level of comfort with the teams playing in Paris. He said he had spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and that officials remained in contact with Parisian and French authorities. Goodell said the league had made preparations and would take the protests into account as it arranged for the game.

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