NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced this week that the new Giants/Jets stadium would host the Super Bowl in 2014 in New York/New Jersey.
Just for fun I Googled "New York New Jersey" and here's what came up: a little arrow pointing to Manhattan. The place read, "New York, NY (near New Jersey)." When I Google "Meadowlands Sports Complex," it points me to the actual place in New Jersey where the Giants and Jets play.
My point? Stop throwing "New York" in the title just to make it sound good. This kind of branding drives me nuts. And yes, I threw a hissy fit like a two-year-old when the Anaheim Angels changed their name to the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim." Give me a freaking break.
But on to the larger sports biz issue here and that's the fact that we're going to have our first cold weather Super Bowl in decades. This winter I posted a FF poll asking if we should have a cold weather Super Bowl and the resounding response was "yes!!" So ask and ye shall (eventually) receive.
Depending on the teams, weather could play an important factor in the game. But it'll also play an important factor on who comes to the Super Bowl. Tampa Bay, Fla. and New Orleans make for great vacation spots in the dead of winter for anyone -- football fan or not. But take away a nice break from the winter cold (global warming aside) and you'll likely get a different fan base in the Meadowlands for this one.
For one, it'll allow the more hard core football fans a chance at the tickets if they can afford it. I wouldn't worry about a lack of demand here either -- cold weather or not, the Super Bowl always sells out. Depending on how sales are going, ticket prices may drop in the weeks leading up but there won't be an empty seat in the house come kickoff time.
So what could more traditional football fans mean for the 2014 Super Bowl? Potentially less ancilliary spending, according to ESPN's Peter Keating. For one, the Meadowland is NOT IN NEW YORK, as I subtly noted above, so it folks want to round out their experience with a Broadway show, they'll have to hoof it into the city. For the heartier folk, that may not be an issue. But for cold weather ninnys like myself or for those who have traditionally gone to the Super Bowl just to go, that may be too daunting a task to be worth it.
Of course on the bright side the new stadium will finally get a naming rights sponsor as companies will want to hurry to slap their name on the side of a stadium that will be featured in one of the most-watched events of the year. But for the local economy that doesn't make much of a difference.
Finally, I have to give the NFL major props for having the guts to bring the Super Bowl to a cold weather environment. It's a big risk -- it's sure to be one of the top talking points and will be part of the fabric of the game either way you slice it.
Either way, it'll make the game more interesting (as if it needs that) and I hope the gamble pays off. Mostly because if a Super Bowl could work in New Jersey, than one would certainly work in Baltimore, Green Bay, Foxborough and other cities deserving of hosting a Super Bowl.