After four rounds of voting, the NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XLVIII to New York/New Jersey. The game will be played in the brand new billion plus dollar Giants & Jets stadium in New Jersey. All of the Super Bowl festivities will presumably be held in New York City.
The other cities bidding for the game were South Florida(Miami) and Tampa. Miami was eliminated after the first vote and eventually New York won out after 4 rounds of voting.
Speaking after the vote, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he voted for New York to get the game.
"Frankly you get there by playing sometime in inclement weather. You get there and so why not let the thing be decided even though there's a chance of that... but I think all those frankly were overshadowed by the fact that the Giants and Jets have really extended themselves to have the benefit of a Super Bowl... You've got to be proud for that New York bunch because they've really extended themselves to have that stadium."
That quote really says it all. It's not the desire to have a cold weather Super Bowl that motivated the NFL to put the game in New York. It was a reward for getting a new billion dollar stadium built. I suspect that the prospect of hosting a Super Bowl will be used as leverage to get cold weather cities all over the NFL to help their teams build new stadiums.
Eagles owner Jeff Lurie reacts after the jump.
Jeff Lurie released this statement.
"The Eagles are enthusiastic supporters of the New York, New Jersey Super Bowl. New York will be a great City to host this championship event. This is an excellent way to rally around the new Meadowlands Stadium and support the incredible effort that is required to achieve such an accomplishment. Some of the most dramatic and memorable games in NFL playoff and championship history were played in cold weather conditions. Eagles fans embrace the outdoor experience and all that it brings to the game.
"Hosting the Super Bowl here in Philadelphia would be a great experience for our fans across the city and region. We certainly have an outstanding combination of assets including an expansive infrastructure built to host large events and conventions. With that said, we realize that warm weather options may always have the advantage when it comes to hosting the Super Bowl. However, if the league supports more northern games, we would pursue."