Earlier this year, the Super Bowl made a rare appearance in a northern state. By all accounts, Indianapolis not only did a great job of hosting the Super Bowl, but some even called the city the best Super Bowl host ever. Sure, the game wasn’t held outdoors, but many of the festivities leading up to the game were, and that didn’t stop anyone from thoroughly enjoying themselves in Naptown.
In 2014, New York City will gear up to host the big game. The city has a phenomenal facility as well as being one of the most loved and popular cities in the world. When you think of great Western cities, you think of Berlin, Paris, London, and New York City. There’s no reason the city can’t pull off hosting the Super Bowl with so much going for them.
When you think of great American cities, New York may pop into your head first, but Chicago, Illinois shouldn’t be far behind, and with so many cold-weather cities starting to get into the Super Bowl hosting mood, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel thinks it may be his city’s turn.
Emanuel spoke about Chicago as a potential host for a Super Bowl at a news conference, saying, “First of all, we’ve always been good enough to host the Super Bowl. Obviously, they’re going to have their Super Bowl in another [cold-weather] city. See how that goes. But we talked about why Chicago … two weeks ago [we] had a bunch of world leaders here, sixth largest NATO Summit. If we can do that, it’ll be a perfect place to have a Super Bowl.”
I’m a huge advocate of getting big time games, the Super Bowl in this case, out of the Southern states. Don’t get me wrong, Southern states often make great hosts, but this is a game with teams all across the nation. It just doesn’t make sense to constantly hold the biggest games only in warm climate cities. Frankly, some of the NFL’s most celebrated games, and many of my favorites, have been played with snow, ice, and mud all thrown together. The NFL should celebrate its cold weather games. Basketball, hockey (with an exception here and there), baseball, soccer, and even most racing circuits are almost exclusively either warm weather sports or played indoors. The NFL is the exception, and it just adds to the experience.
I’ll be pulling for Chicago if they make a Super Bowl bid. The game is great regardless of where it’s played, but there’s just something great about cold weather and football. Why not combine them every few years during the NFL’s biggest event?
