Fans Deserve Sunshine & Palm Trees, Not Frigid Temperatures
Atlanta.
Minneapolis.
New Jersey.
Detroit.
Brrr, Detroit!
These are all recent host cities of the Super Bowl. Heck, build a stadium in International Falls, Minn., where – as I write this blog post it’s minus-13 degrees and that does not even include the wind chill – and the NFL will hold a Super Bowl there.
I understand (it’s all about the $$$, after all!) but the Super Bowl should be held in warm weather climates. A place with sunshine and palm trees. Ahh, yes, palm trees!
Miami.
Los Angeles.
Phoenix.
San Diego!
The one exception I make to this rule (rule for me, anyway) is New Orleans. With Bourbon Street and the French Quarter and a city that knows how to throw a party, the Big Easy should be in the Super Bowl rotation every four years.
Yeah, that’s it, a rotation of warm-weather cities, like college football does for its playoff.
The Super Bowl is a reward for the players, coaches and fans. Oh right, the fans. The forgotten folks of sports these days.
I don’t care about the high-paid players, coaches, executives, NFL officials and over-hyped halftime performers when it comes to the location, but the fans. They are spending a bundle of money ($5K and up on airfare, hotels, transportation, food, game tickets and of course the all-important drinks) and deserve to walk outside in their shorts and team jerseys, not in parkas.
They need to be able to walk around the town to fan fests, to the restaurants and bars to cheer with their fellow fans of the team and give crap to fans of other teams. There should be a free block party with bands, beer, food trucks, and it should be warm and sunny for the people to fully enjoy the experience.
It was so frigid at Super Bowl XL in Detroit in 2006 that the media never ventured outside their hotel. Instead, they hunkered down inside the hotel’s bar (and make no mistake, the media likes to have cocktails, particularly the sports media. It helps them deal with the players and coaches, most of whom hate the press. I know this because I was once a sportswriter.)
This year’s game, Super Bowl LIII is in Atlanta. And if you’ve never been to Atlanta, particularly in the wintertime, it’s cold and rainy. The weather forecast: snow, ice and cold.
Sure, the game is indoor but I guarantee you the fans would rather the game be in Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles or San Diego. That’s the way I would have it if I were the NFL commish.
Cheers!
Leave a Reply