Why can’t Washington host a Super Bowl?
The game went to Jacksonville in 2005. Florida’s gateway to sexier cities doesn’t even sell out its own NFL games, but has seen the championship live.
The Detroit area hosted two Super Bowls, the first in the middle of a nasty blizzard. Minneapolis hosted one — Redskins fans remember it well as Washington beat Buffalo. It was the end of all good things during Joe Gibbs part I.
Before you counter that those are domed stadiums, the NFL is expected on Tuesday to award the 2014 Super Bowl to the new Meadowlands Stadium, which opens in August. There’s no dome on that one. Dallas gets the 2011 and Cowboys Stadium has a partially open roof. Don’t think for a minute that it’s not cold in North Texas in February.
But Washington has never received a sniff of attention for the Super Bowl. Oh, maybe a momentary mention after 9/11 when D.C. and New York combined to receive consideration. The NFL said it would think about it because it would help rebuild tourism in the two attacked cities. First, New York would get the game 12 years after the Twin Towers fell; that’s a little late to be considered economic help. Secondly, the NFL was always looking for a reason to place the game near its headquarters.
Admittedly, New York is a better choice than Washington. Super Bowl crowds come to be entertained for several days. New York can certainly accommodate 100,000-plus fans looking for indoor entertainment. Washington’s best attractions are largely outdoors — few tourists brave the cold weather. The museums are superb, but not what Super Bowl visitors want. They like warm weather and cold beer, but will settle for a Broadway show.
South Florida, New Orleans, Phoenix and Southern California are the greatest Super Bowl sites with a perfect blend of weather and atmosphere. No wonder 36 Super Bowls have played there. New Orleans is getting the 2013 game.
A Super Bowl every five years elsewhere is fine as long as it’s not in London. No sense exporting an event that generates more than $150 million to a foreign city that doesn’t have a team. We don’t ask for their European soccer championship.
Will Washington ever get the game? Former Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke once considered an inflatable dome over RFK shortly before his 1997 death. Surely the technology is possible.
Don’t look for the NFL to give another outdoor cold-weather venue a chance for at least a decade. By then, the Redskins might be eyeing a return to the District and a domed stadium anyway.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
