MLB Won't Move Orioles Game For Reigning Super Bowl Champion Ravens For The NFL's Opening Night

A tradition hits roadblock as the night the reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens are supposed to host the opening regular-season game of the NFL season, their neighbors are already booked for their own matchup.

September 5 is the scheduled opening game of the 2013 season, and a tradition of the NFL is to have the reigning Super Bowl champion host the kickoff of the next season.

The Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to have a baseball game against the White Sox directly adjacent the home of the Ravens, M&T Bank Stadium. According to the Associated Press (AP), MLB is unwilling to move the scheduled game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the Ravens.  

"From a baseball competitive standpoint, it would be very difficult to change times," MLB senior vice president Katy Feeney said, according to The AP "We're talking about September."

September is the final stretch of a long season, where every game matters in the race for the postseason.

This also has an effect on maybe having the NFL season stick with the opener being on a Wednesday again. Last year, the New York Giants hosted the Dallas Cowboys on a Wednesday because of the Democratic National Convention was booked for Thursday.

Both stadiums combine for over 118,000 people if both games sold out. The parking area is not designed to hold that many people, plus the traffic would be gruesome as the Ravens would be set to defend their Super Bowl title and the Orioles play one game in the midst of a 162 game regular-season.

The only proposal that was tabled during the owners meeting Wednesday in Phoenix was whether to open the regular season as early as Wednesday. The NFL likes to open the regular season on the Thursday before the regular Sunday opener, and it likes to have the Super Bowl winner have a home game on that night, the AP reported.

Since the Orioles are on the road that Wednesday and unwilling to even make their game a day-game, instead of its scheduled 7 p.m. start, the NFL might have to open up on a Wednesday.

The Baltimore Orioles have a home game Thursday, Sept. 5, and Major League Baseball appears to be unwilling to alter the time to a day game to allow the Baltimore Ravens to play that night.