For better or for worse, the very idea of hosting a Super Bowl in the freezing Northeast has drawn plenty of critics and backers since the decision was made two years ago to give the home of the Giants and Jets the big game.
Yet if one sat and watched not just Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, but all of the festitivies that surround the Super Bowl on gameday it is fair to wonder how New Jersey can pull this off when temperatures are usually no higher than 32 degrees at this time of the year. New Jersey has also gone through a huge cold snap the past month with temperature barely clearing double-digits.
Nobody will complain about Media Day or Radio Row next year because those events could be held at indoor facilities like Radio City Music Hall, MSG, the Prudential Center, the Javits Center, or Hell, even Trump Tower!
Plus a lot of radio stations who attend Radio Row are already located in New York, minimizing the need to even do the remote. Stations like WFAN, ESPN Radio and SIRIUS NFL and Mad Dog Radio can broadcast out of their own studios on some days during Super Bowl week if they should choose.
However, the actual game-day experience might be an unmitigated disaster especially if next winter resembles anything like this one with Green Bay-like temperatures; or worse, is like the winter of 2010 that featured several feet of heavy snow and skin-cracking winds. Case in point, ESPN, the NFL Network and CBS Sports each had tables set up outside and inside of the Superdome for their extended coverage of the Super Bowl throughout the week. These same sets were then used the day of the game for each networks seven hour pregame shows, which began around noon on Sunday.
Can you imagine watching NFL Network, and seeing Rich Eisen, Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin bundled up like mummies for seven hours with only their eyes showing during a seven hour pregame show in the bowl of a blustery MetLife Stadium for a Super Bowl kick-off special? Next year's game is on FOX, what will Terry Bradshaw do to protect that bald head of his?
Then think about this: Super Bowl XLVII's insidious halftime show that featured Beyonce in scantly clad Victoria's Secret underwear, a performance that will be remembered more for her chunky legs, and over-the-top pyrotechnics, will be nearly impossible to pull off next year.The New York Post reported that the NFL is "freaking out"about holding the Super Bowl and all of the side-dishes that go with it in a freezing stadium.
There is no plan for a halftime show at next year's Super Bowl, according to the Post, "because NFL officials can't figure out how to stage the festivities in frigid climate."
For one thing, it will be very difficult to set up a gigantic stage in a stadium where the sideline room is pretty narrow. Dolphin Stadium in Miami and the Superdome have plenty of sideline room for both media, photographers, halftime stages, and TV sets for the sports networks. There is no such room at MetLife. They barely have enough room for the Jets cheerleaders during the season.
That and the fact that it will be very difficult for any performer to put their best foot forward when temperatures are below freezing.
The best case scenario is to put the halftime show in the Izod Center, which is unused since the Nets and Devils moved out of it years ago; or move it to the Prudential Center, with a live feed being transmitted to the jumbo-trons in the stadium.
Local officials have already warned the NFL that the game might be impossible to play in hazardous conditions. Forget about a dome being quickly put up on the building however. The idea about putting up a dome on the initial construction of MetLife Stadium cost over $200 million, something both the Jets and Giants, and taxpayers didn't want to pay for.
So what will happen with Super Bowl XLVIII? Don't expect NFL officials to suddenly balk and take the game to Tampa or Miami. Too much time and even money has already been committed toward bringing the Super Bowl to the New York Metropolitan area. However, if winter 2014 is like a lion, Super Bowl XLVIII, will likely be remembered for more than just the game.
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