In 2013, the Seattle Seahawks fans set a Guinness record for crowd noise at the stadium now known as Lumen Field, and visiting offenses spent the season drowning in false starts. A year later, the Kansas City Chiefs fans took the record back at Arrowhead. The noise was widely accepted as part of the game and a clear edge for the home team. Now the league is dealing with a different kind of home-field question: the officials.
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The NFL announced that it has reassigned officials to Week 10 games within driving distance of their hometowns.
“Due to the ongoing nationwide impact to air travel this weekend, the NFL has adjusted its officiating assignments for Week 10 games, reassigning officials to games within driving distance of their hometowns,” ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter reported on X, via NFL.
“Each of the league’s 17 officiating crews have a backup referee identified, and that individual trains throughout the year to work at the referee position should the need arise.”
A temporary outage in air traffic control telecommunications led the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt flights nationwide on Friday, November 13, 2026, the longest such ground stop in 25 years.
Although the FAA lifted the order later that night, airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights, and recovery delays continued Saturday. Since NFL officials fly commercially rather than on team charters, the league shifted assignments to avoid stranded crews.
With regular referees unable to reach their assigned sites, the league elevated three designated backup referees, umpires Duane Heydt and Barry Anderson, and side judge Don Willard, to serve as lead officials for four Sunday matchups.
Heydt will referee Carolina-New Orleans, Anderson will take Jacksonville-Tennessee, and Willard will work both Miami-Indianapolis and Pittsburgh-Cincinnati.
However, not everyone is pleased with the league’s decision to assign referees within driving distance of their hometowns. The move drew criticism from fans who worried about biased calls.
“Home field advantage! Get your bets in people,” a fan wrote on X. Another added, “Great so hometown bias! Got it!!!”
“That’s a good conflict of interest. Glad they got a full weeks worth of lawyering before they can drive to the game and let their friends and family cheer them on as they favour their home team,” a third fan opined.
The concern comes down to who will be on the field. By sending officials to games within driving distance of their hometowns, the league has put some of them close to the teams, fans, and communities they grew up around. Some fans see that as a built-in conflict of interest, arguing that an official working near home could feel pressure, consciously or not, to favor the local team, especially with family and friends in the stands.
Others tied the worry to betting, suggesting the change gives the home side an extra edge.
“Perfect. That’s at least 12 games open to easy accusations of bias. Pitt and Viking fans will be really quiet on that topic,” argued a fourth fan.
While the majority appeared confident about witnessing potential bad calls, a few complained about how poor officiating has already been seen in the ongoing season, with controversial calls dominating the conversation.
“Officiating has been so bad, no one cares,” a fifth fan added.
Whether those fears prove true will show up in Sunday’s games. As for the NFL teams, which fly on private charters, they were largely expected to travel to their Week 10 sites as scheduled Saturday.