NEW YORK CITY – When Roger Goodell stood on stage talking about the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl and the weather, fake snow started falling from above him. I told you we were going to embrace the weather, Goodell joked. It was quite funny, but lets be honest: The NFL likely wouldnt have been guffawing if the weather wasnt as promising for Sunday as it is. The weather forecast, as Goodell pointed out, is very good, at least for an outdoor game in a cold-weather city. The Weather Channels forecast, which has improved all week, now calls for a high of 49 degrees, a low of 29 degrees, almost no wind and between a 10 and 20 percent chance of rain. It looks like it’s going to be a lot warmer than we anticipated, Goodell said as part of his annual press conference on the Friday before the Super Bowl. The NFL did get pretty lucky this week. The league wouldnt have heard the end of it if there was a blizzard that significantly impacted the game. There was never a real threat of postponement, no matter how often the league decided to discuss its contingency plans (which made Goodells announcement that the game would kick off at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday as scheduled fairly ridiculous), but many people have been waiting anxiously to criticize the league if the weather was terrible for the game. That probably wont happen. Still, it doesnt necessarily mean another cold-weather outdoor Super Bowl, although Goodell didnt rule it out either. We know there’s interest in other communities hosting the Super Bowl, Goodell said. The ownership will sit back and review that when we’re done, There hasnt been any indication cities like Denver, Washington or Philadelphia would ever get a Super Bowl, but more goes into it than the climate. Goodell said that because of the events associated with Super Bowl week that a lot of space is needed including about 30,000 hotel rooms. That eliminates some cities. Also, there are many cities that are vying for a Super Bowl. Goodell said competition is intense to land the leagues premier event. Theres such a demand for Super Bowls right now, Goodell said. The cities that are going to get multiple Super Bowls is limited. But if the NFL never tries another cold-weather city with an open stadium for a Super Bowl, it wont be because the league didnt have a good experience this week, so far at least. Goodell said everything has gone very well in the lead-up to Super Bowl XLVIII. I think people are feeling the excitement and energy, and that’s a great thing for us, Goodell said. Want to watch the Big Game ads? Check them out here: - - - - - - - Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 17:43:12 +0000