On the Bench: Weather vs. the Super Bowl

Ever since the first Super Bowl 47 years ago, there has been one thing that has remained constant each game — it has never snowed. The average temperature at kickoff is 66 degrees, but the coldest outdoor Super Bowl temperature recorded at kickoff was 39 degrees, back in 1972 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

It has been announced that Super Bowl 48 will be played on Feb. 2, 2014 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The average temperature on Feb. 2 in East Rutherford is 29 degrees, with an average of 60 percent precipitation — not exactly ideal for the biggest National Football League game of the year.

The top three cities that have hosted the most Super Bowls are Miami and New Orleans, which tie with 10, and Los Angeles, which has hosted seven. All of these are warm weather cities. The fact that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell allowed MetLife Stadium to even bid is astonishing and against NFL regulations, since the NFL has a rule saying that a Super Bowl host city must have an average daily temperature of 50 degrees or higher. All previous Super Bowls that were held in cold weather cities were played indoors, where the players and fans could escape the weather.

Now that this past season is over, the attention has shifted to next season, especially the Super Bowl. Many people, including myself, have criticized the location of the 2014 Super Bowl, saying that East Rutherford is too cold to host it outdoors. I say that if MetLife Stadium was a dome and had the ability to control the field temperature, it would have every right to host the game, but that is not the case.

One of the critics is recent Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco, who explicitly said that he thinks a cold weather Super Bowl is a dumb idea. According to a recent poll by the Bleacher Report, only 5.6 percent of voters thought that the Super Bowl should be played in cold weather conditions.

How does the serious threat of cold weather affect the Super Bowl? The league recently released contingency plans for next year, in the event of bad weather. The two main things they have considered are moving the game from Sunday to Saturday if the forecast is really bad or even waiting a few extra days to play the game. This could have a huge impact on fans attending the Super Bowl, as some do not arrive until the day of the game. If the NFL were to delay the game, fans would have to extend their stay or go back home if they cannot afford to do so. The idea of a Super Bowl Saturday or a Super Bowl Wednesday is just upsetting; everyone looks forward to that one Sunday in February.

Not only will the players be affected by the frigid temperatures and the fans affected by the possibility of missing the game, but NFL officials have also thought about not having a halftime show. The Super Bowl is not only known for the game being played; it is also synonymous with all-star talent performing at midfield while the players regroup for the second half.

If there were to be inclement weather and the game was played on Saturday with no halftime show, then where is the tradition of the NFL Super Bowl?

 

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