The most extravagant sporting event in the entire world is finally upon us. After all the waiting and the talking points and the stories and the lead up, the Super Bowl will finally be played on Sunday in South Florida. This will be a record 10th time the game has been played in South Florida in the 44-year history of the game. Due to its warm weather and ostentatious attitude, Miami is considered to be in the running for the Super Bowl just about every other year. Yet, Super Bowl XLIV could possibly be the regions last Super Bowl.
Although South Florida is bidding on the 2014 Super Bowl, which league owners will award in May, the NFL — in a move blasted in some circles as akin to extortion — said in December that the newly named Sun Life Stadium needs more renovations to host the game again. And the home team, the Miami Dolphins, wants little to do with the expected hundreds of millions of dollars such a project would surely cost, even after the club paid for a rendering of a revamped venue, complete with a partial roof. (Insert picture)
Sun Life Stadium is 23 years old and must import special lights for each night game to meet HDTV requirements (the Super Bowl kicks off at 6:38 p.m.est). Most of the seats are aging and unprotected from the weather. The stadium is also one of only two in the NFL to also be home to a baseball team (the Oakland Raiders and A’s share their stadium). League officials have made it clear to the Miami Dolphins that if renovations aren’t made; the Super Bowl is in jeopardy of ever returning to the region.
Case in point are the next three Super Bowls. Next year’s game is in Dallas, home to the new $1.1 billion Cowboys Stadium; then the 2012 edition is scheduled in the Indianapolis Colts’ $720 million new home, Lucas Oil Field. The 2013 contest is slated for the Superdome in New Orleans, which is set for $300 million of renovations following a significant overhaul that came after Hurricane Katrina. As more and more franchise upgrade their facilities to cater to the newly crafted corporate NFL, it will be harder for NFL owners to vote to have a Super Bowl at a facility that is creped and outdated. This isn’t a new phenomenon either, since 2000 five NFL franchises were awarded the Super Bowl in large party because they built new stadiums (Atlanta 2000, Houston 2004, Jacksonville 2005, Detroit 2006, and Phoenix 2008).
The host candidates for 2014 include; the new $1.4 billion Meadowlands facility set to open next year, the 3 ½ year old Arizona Cardinals stadium, newly renovated Raymond James stadium in Tampa Bay and even a far fetched proposal has come in from London. If an agreement can’t be made between the Dolphins and the local governments, Miami’s chances to host another Super Bowl may just be out the window.
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