This week’s thought has been inspired by the peculiar location selection for Super Bowl XLVIII.
This year’s Super Bowl will be played in New Y-oh, Jersey. That’s right, not New York. It will be played at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey, where both the New York Giants and Jets play.
Many have speculated at the fact that this will be an “In-the-Elements” type Super Bowl. Kick off temperature on Sunday is set to be right around 30 degrees, just at freezing.
What kind of Super Bowl is this? Some of you football diehards would argue that “football is played best in the elements” and that it is a man’s sport and the weather is apart of the game. When playing in the snow and the cold elements, those same fans would say “this is the best conditions for football.” That makes me think. Has anyone ever said “wow these conditions are not good to play in” when the game was in San Diego, Texas, New Orleans, or Florida? Probably not. They were probably thinking how great the conditions were.
Lets take a look back at all the Super Bowls.
There has been 48 Super Bowls, including this year’s in New Yoerzy.
In the last 48 years there has only been 5 Super Bowls that have been played in a Cold Weather city (This year, Indianapolis, Detroit, Minnesota, Michigan). Lets take a look at the rest of the Super Bowls, broken down by state:
Florida – 15
California – 11 (7 Los Angeles, 3 San Diego, 1 Palo Alto).
Louisiana (All in New Orleans) – 10
Texas – 3
Georgia (ATL) – 2
Arizona – 2. Also notable, the 2015 Superbowl (49) is already scheduled to be in Arizona.
Every single one of these states is considered to be in a warm region of the United States. Florida has hosted Super Bowls in Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville. When looking at the Super Bowls in this fashion it is easy to see that majority of them are played in warm weather environment.
Even more notable, is the fact that every single Cold Weather city that has hosted a Super Bowl (up until this year) has been hosted in a Dome. Think about it. Indianapolis – Dome, Detroit – Dome, Metrodome in Minnesota, and the Dome in Michigan (Super Dome). Every Cold Weather city that has hosted a Super Bowl in the entire history of the game, has had a dome.
So why the all a sudden change?
To me, its just so New York can claim to have a Super Bowl and have the attention on them. It is so typical of the East Coast Bias and all the writers to endorse a New York Super Bowl. The sad part is that the state of New Jersey has taken a complete back burner to New York. If I was a citizen of New Jersey I would be a little upset. But then again, I wouldn’t be a citizen of New Jersey. It seems no one is acknowledging this.
Maybe this will be a learning lesson for the NFL. Maybe the elements will be so intense that it will completely ruin the way the game is played. Maybe Peyton Manning will have a terrible game because of the elements. Maybe people will call for the head of the commissioner. Or maybe not? This Super Bowl will tell the tail of future ones.
The last year has told us something else, regarding hosting the Big Game. If your city wants to host the Super Bowl, than an up-to-date stadium is an absolute must. Look at the San Francisco 49er franchise; after only hosting one Super Bowl in their history, they are now on the ballot in 2016 for a Super Bowl after building a new stadium. Not that Northern California has the warmest weather, but it is setting a standard. The NFL wants to be in these warmer areas, but also be in nicer, newer stadiums.
Furthermore, lets take a look at Southern California. This region of the United States has arguably the best weather in the entire country. The only region that could even come close in competition would be Florida. An argument for So Cal would be that Florida is much more humid and it rains quite often. The point is, Southern California should be an ideal spot for the Super Bowl, right?? Then how come there has not been a Super Bowl in the region since 2003 (San Diego)?
Southern California’s Super Bowl drought has got to be because there are no up-to-date stadiums. Think about it. Los Angeles has not had a franchise in nearly 20 years, and even the decade before then the Rams were playing in Orange County. Look at San Diego. Stadium is a dump, really. They’ve held the Super Bowl three times, but Jack Murphy Stadium, the “Q”, is just not up to standards anymore. The only reason they were able to host the game in ’03 was because they added 7,000 seats to the stadium leading up to that Super Bowl. So obviously the in-game experience for the fan is a huge deal. What happens when no one shows up to the game because it is too cold?
Another point I wanted to make was that this is the Championship Game for two groups of teams. These teams have worked their butts off all year long from the players, to the coaches, to the scouts. The Super Bowl is a big accomplishment and should be thought of as so, a celebration. Players should be rewarded for their long season and how much time and work they’ve put in to position their team for a Super Bowl berth. Every Pro-Bowl selection on a Super Bowl team has to deny their invitation to play in beautiful Hawaii. So why not give a little to these guys? Have Super Bowls in warm weather environments in order to show the true skill and talent levels of these professional athletes. Everyone wants to see a show here in the Super Bowl, and warm weather is the best environment to showcase the play of these athletes.
The cities that should be hosting the Super Bowl (Miami, New Orleans, San Diego, Houston) are all ideal vacation spots. Each city’s primary revenue is built around tourism. All cities are on the water. All cities are at least in the 60’s during winter time. Why not capitalize on the outstanding weather of these locations and keep Super Bowls coming for years in warm weather cities.
San Diego Sports Insider 