As one who's headed a Super Bowl Host City Bid Effort, as I did for Oakland from 1999 to 2001 and against Miami and Jacksonville for the 2005 game, one issue is always the weather as a sell point - or not.
Bad weather can turn off the NFL from returning to a city, and a spread-out Super Bowl plan combined with it, can make prospects worse.
If you're representing Oakland and The San Francisco Bay Area, the worst factor you have to deal with is rain. But in cities like Atlanta and now Dallas, the worst issue is the cold; it may or may not be a factor. In Dallas, like Atlanta in 2000 for Super Bowl XXXIV, the cold came up big.
I was in Atlanta for my first Super Bowl game, and have been to San Diego (2003), Houston (2004), Detroit (2006), Miami (2007), Arizona (2009), and Miami again in 2010.
The Atlanta Super Bowl XXXIV Host Committee expected 72 degree weather, outdoors, as well as indoors where the Georgia Dome provided an excellent venue for the game. But that didn't happen. A massive ice and snow storm made getting around Atlanta an ordeal, and it got worse, not better, on Friday, the day of the NFL Commissioner's Party that night.
Getting to the Commissioner's Party, what the NFL calls its "Friday Night Party" wasn't too much of a problem by cab. But while we were eating foods from four different themed areas, enjoying Cirque Du Soleil-like entertainment, and socializing, the weather was taking a turn for the ice.
By the time the Commissioner's Party was over, sheets of rain were pouring down and mixing with the already freezing cold, making road navigation tricky. We happened to be standing next to several NFL Owners and their families; you knew from the chatter and choice words that the NFL would not be coming back to Atlanta for a while; it took three hours for transportation to arrive to get us out of there.
With that memory fresh, I put together this list, ranking Super Bowl Host Cities from worst weather to best, and using my notes and emails from friends who went to the Super Bowls in New Orleans (2001), Tampa (2002) and (2008), and the city Oakland lost to for Super Bowl XXXIV, Jacksonville (2005).
1. Dallas. This is not just because it's cold and freezing, but, unlike the Atlanta Super Bowl in 2000, events are way spread out. Cowboys Stadium is 15 miles away in Arlington, Texas, and many NFL-sanctioned events are in other cities like FT. Worth, 30 miles away. I still can't get over the sight of ESPN's Mike and Mike show coming from a set in Ft. Worth so cold the hosts were blowing steam. (Why were they in Ft. Worth and not the warmth of the Dallas Convention Center, where Media Row is, is beyond me.)
2. Atlanta in 2000. Unlike Dallas, you could walk from The Ritz Carlton to The Georgia Dome for the game, as my friend Phil Tagami and I did on game day morning, first going to The NFL Tailgate Party at the convention center, then walking over to the Georgia Dome for the game. What Atlanta needs is not a brand new outdoor stadium but an upgraded Georgia Dome. The NFL should push for that, rather than an outdoor complex in a suburban location, as some rumors have it.
3. Detroit in 2006. Detroit was cold with snow, but not as freezing cold as in Atlanta and Dallas. Plus, it was a "compact" host plan, with about 80 percent of the events within Downtown Detroit and walkable (I rented a car). The best event? ESPN taking over five stories of a building and subdividing it with parties on different floors, including the Leigh Steinberg Party. On game day you could walk from the NFL Headquarters Hotel at Ren Cen to Ford Field. The whole experience was a blast, even the long security line outside before hand. Props to D-Town for doing it big in the snow.
4. Houston in 2004. Houston was cold, but not snowy, so that wasn't a big deal. And considering that it too was spread out, not so bad overall and the Super Bowl itself was a blast, and even had a wardrobe malfuction. But the problem was the conflict between placing events in Downtown Houston and the other places that had stuff going on. You needed a car to get around, and could easily get lost if you didn't know your way.
5. Jacksonville in 2005. Jacksonville had rain, cold, and a spread-out Super Bowl plan without mass transit. (The Bay Area would have been better, but...) Like other Super Bowls, the planners tried to concentrate a lot of event stuff downtown, and even used cruise ships as hotels, which didn't go over well with my friends who went.
6. New Orleans in 2001. I'm told by my friend I've gone to all of these with, that New Orleans wasn't bad at all weather-wise. Plus, the Superdome was adjacent to many event venues and the convention center, so you didn't have to go a long way at all. Nice.
7. Tampa in 2002 and 2007. I missed these, but emails have it to be a nice Florida experience with a good Super Bowl events plan and not too spread out considering the weather. Still, it's no Miami. And another city and metro area did well...
8. Arizona in 2009. Spread out, yes, but the great weather and cities that are in kind of a quad setting between Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Tucson, made it fun. And there are few places more fun than Scottsdale for a Super Bowl. The one major issue was getting to the game and out of it: dust storms. I remember running into MC Hammer in the parking lot after the game at the stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and barely being able to see him because of the giant clouds of sand that were blowing around. It was awful. Other than that, the experience was a blast, and Leigh Steinberg threw a kick-ass party.
9. San Diego in 2003. For me this was the second hottest Super Bowl other than Miami. Weather wasn't an issue but an asset. You could get to the game via trolley. And many Super Bowl events were in San Diego's awesome Gaslamp District or at The Convention Center across the street. The only issue I had was the Raiders got creamed by the Bucs.
10 and 11. Miami in 2006 and 2010. Miami's the best place for the Super Bowl, and provides the right combination of weather, concentration of venues and event along South Beach, hotels, and parties. Going to the Super Bowl there is like being in a dream factory with beautiful venues and people. Awesome.
There was just one issue: the rainstorm that hit on game day in 2006 and left us soaked! Other than that, man. Here's a video from The Playboy Party in Miami in 2006:
Well, the fact is that, regardless of the weather, the fun comes in what you make of the experience. With all of the weather problems, Dallas future Super Bowl prospects will hinge on how the NFL Commissioner's Party goes. If the NFL Owners can get in and out with ease, and have a great time while there, it makes all the other problems that much smaller.
Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment