Arctic Temperatures for Players and Fans, but No Blackouts on TV Matt Rourke/Associated Press N.F.L. players, like DeSean Jackson in Philadelphia, may have the easiest time with snowy weather. The first winter storm of 2014 has largely come and gone, but it has left snow, frigid temperatures and untold delays in its wake. Caught in the mess are the thousands of N.F.L. players, fans and members of the news media trying to get to Cincinnati, Green Bay, Indianapolis and Philadelphia, where wild-card games will be played this weekend. Though many of the players will compete in freezing temperatures, they have not faced many major hurdles yet. After all, the San Diego Chargers, the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints fly on their own jets and are expected to reach their destinations roughly on time. Reporters and television crews are another story. Jeff Duncan, a columnist for The Times-Picayune, left his home in New Orleans on Friday at 4:30 a.m. He and the Saints beat reporters Larry Holder and Katherine Terrell flew to Atlanta. A connecting flight was supposed to arrive in Philadelphia by 12:19 p.m., but it was canceled. So, they flew to Baltimore, where they rented a car for the last 110 miles to Philadelphia. Along the way, they met the son of a longtime Saints administrator. "His flight also was canceled and by happenstance found us here and is hitching a ride with us," Duncan said. Fun stuff. Some members of the news media, unable to make their flights, have canceled their trips. Fans, too, have been forced to scramble or have decided to stay home. The mayhem may ultimately be a preview of the Super Bowl, which this year will be played in New Jersey and for the first time outdoors in a cold-weather climate. If airports in the New York metropolitan area are shut, fans, executives and others may struggle to arrive at the big game, and cities like Chicago and Denver, which also have outdoor stadiums and Super Bowl host ambitions, may have to wait a few years before bidding for the game. By Thursday, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers still had not sold out their stadiums, raising the prospect of an N.F.L. playoff game being blacked out in a local market for the first time since 2002, when the Miami Dolphins-Baltimore Ravens playoff game was not shown in and around Miami. But the league gave the Bengals, the Colts and the Packers extensions until late Friday afternoon. That did the trick as team sponsors bought big blocks of seats, helping the Bengals, the Colts and the Packers sell out their stadiums. This season, only two games were blacked out, a low. To avoid a blackout, a game must be sold out 72 hours before kickoff. In Indianapolis, Meijer, a large retailer, bought 1,200 tickets for Saturday's game against the Chiefs and will donate them to military families. Larry Hall, the director of ticket sales for the Colts, said many fans fly to Indiana for games, but it was unclear how many would be able to reach Indianapolis. The Bengals had until 4 p.m. Eastern time Friday to fill their stadium for the game against the Chargers. Kroger, a grocery chain, bought an undisclosed amount of tickets, and with minutes to go Procter & Gamble, which has its headquarters in Cincinnati, bought the remaining tickets. Kroger and P&G are also giving their tickets to members of the military. Part of the problem for home teams is that, even before the snowstorm, fans did not know until after the regular season ended when their team would be playing this weekend, according to Jack Brennan, a spokesman for the Bengals. "You've got a tough product to sell in a short time because until Sunday night we couldn't tell people what time and day the game is," Brennan said. The league also requires that tickets be sold at face value during the playoffs, which prevents teams from discounting or giving them away. "While I don't think our tickets are as high priced as in some markets, there are less levers you can pull for a playoff game than during the regular season," Brennan said. Playoff tickets were also being sold during a holiday week, when many families travel. Pat Borzi contributed reporting.