26 Jan 2018

25 Interesting Super Bowl Facts About Stadiums, Bleachers, Parking Lots And Hotel Rooms

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Aluminum bleachers and football field

Facts about Super Bowl stadiums and the cities that hosted them.

Here are some Super Bowl facts and trivia about the stadiums where the big games were played and the many touchdowns and fumbles that cities went through to host them.

 

1. Need This To Qualify – According to NFL rules, a city must have an NFL team if they even hope to apply as a host.

2. Not The Same Stadium – The city that wins the bid does not have to hold the event in the team’s stadium. For example, the last five Super Bowls in the Los Angeles metro area were played in the Rose Bowl, not the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Rose Bowl stadium, ironically, is the birth of the first sports “bowl” game ever played. A college game in 1902.

3.  When They Had A Team They Won Big – Los Angeles, which went for years without a team, has hosted seven Super Bowls. But those were held when the Los Angeles Rams or Los Angeles Raiders were in town.

4. Guess Top Three Cities With Most Super Bowls – The three leading metro areas that have hosted a Super Bowl are Miami – 10, New Orleans – 10 and Los Angeles – 7.

5. Long Time Frame – The NFL chooses a host city three to five years early.

6. New Is Better – The league likes to award the Big Game to cities where the stadiums have undergone big renovations. That’s why this year’s Super Bowl will be played at the renovated US Bank Stadium in Minnesota and next year in the brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. In 2020, the game will be played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens that underwent a $450 million renovation, including the addition of an awning to keep the bleachers out of the brutal Florida sun. Then in 2022 the game will be played at the new multi-billion-dollar Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park, CA.

7. Nobody Took Advantage Of This Advantage – No team in the Big Game has ever had the opportunity (and definitely the edge) of playing in their own stadium before their own fans.  In fact, this year the Minnesota Vikings came very, very close, just one win away from being the first. But they lost to The Philadelphia Eagles, who will be playing instead in US Bank Stadium in Minnesota.

8. Gotta Have Warmth – In the past, the NFL has never picked a city for a Super Bowl that had weather where the average daily temperature was less than 50 degrees. It looks like Lambeau Field in Green Bay and Soldier Field in Chicago won’t be hosting the Super Bowl game anytime in the next decade. Same with Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Denver and Washington, DC.

9. Have A Roof? You Have A Chance – The NFL has picked northern cities with domed stadiums – Detroit, Minneapolis, and Indianapolis.

10. This City Won An Exception – The NFL made a weather exception for Super Bowl Super Bowl XLVII when they picked MetLife Stadium in the NYC Metro Area (which is actually in New Jersey) and had no roof.

Big spaces, lots of bleachers and places to sleep required for the big game

11. Lots of Seats – If you want your city to host a Super Bowl, you need a stadium with at least 70,000 seats and bleachers. The stadium must have 850,000 square feet of space indoors for all the events.

12. And Parking Spots – You also need parking for 35,000 vehicles. All within one mile of the stadium.

13. Plus, Places For Kids – You also need plenty of space for all the ancillary activities such as the NFL’s Gameday Experience for kids. There must be 1 million square feet available for outside events. And there are quite a few – see a list of NFL Super Bowl community events here.

14. Where They Gonna Sleep? – All those visiting spectators need a place to stay. So the host city must have enough hotel rooms that equal 35% of the stadium’s capacity. Within a one-hour drive.

15. Calling All Ships – Jacksonville didn’t have enough hotel rooms to meet the hotel capacity criteria for Super Bowl XXXIX. So they arranged to have luxury cruise liners docked nearby.

16. Practice Both Ways – The host city also needs to make sure adequate practice fields are within 20 miles of the stadium. Those practice fields must have real grass and then another field with the exact same grass that is in the stadium where the game will be played.

17. Two Bowls In A Row? – How many stadiums hosted consecutive Super Bowls? Only one – the Orange Bowl in Miami. They hosted the second and third Super Bowls.

18. You Got It – Now You Don’t – Some cities were awarded, then lost bids, for stadiums that were planned but not built in time. That was San Francisco for Super Bowl XXXVII that was moved to Miami.Then the same thing happened again in San Francisco for Super Bowl XXXVIII when the stadium failed to be built and the game was moved to San Diego.

19. Big Plans – Into Thin Air – The New York Jets almost hosted Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, but their plans for a new stadium didn’t happen and the game was moved to Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL.

20. Blimey, He Must Be Bonkers – Roger Goodell has hinted that one day the Super Bowl might be played in London, England. Why? Who knows? Because it’s certainly not likely. For one, the football game would start at 11:30 pm because of the time difference. Secondly, to people in England, football is soccer. So it’s already confusing.

21. Lost It And Then Got It Back – One city, Tempe, Arizona, actually lost the Super Bowl bid after citizens in the state voted not to recognize Martin Luther King Day as a paid state employee holiday. Voters later decided to recognize the holiday and the Super Bowl XXX was played in Tempe.

22. Worst Field Ever – Some experts claim Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, was the worst place for a Super Bowl, which they hosted in 2016. At one game held there earlier in the season, a kicker slipped into a small sinkhole in the middle of the field, missing his 3-point attempt. The field has since been re-sodded.

23. Big Easy and The Benz Are Big Winners – The Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans has been the home of the most Super Bowls – seven in one stadium.

24. Rocking The Bowl – The Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens comes in second place with six Super Bowls. However, five Super Bowls were played just down the Florida Turnpike in the Orange Bowl.

25. Bowl Venue One Day – Pile Of Dust Tomorrow – Three stadiums that hosted a combined five Super Bowls are no longer in existence. Two were demolished some time ago – the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and Tampa Stadium. The Pontiac Silverdome, once the largest stadium in the NFL with 82,000 seats, was supposed to be blown up on Dec. 3, 2017 but fought back after only part of the explosives detonated. It finally fell after a second attempt and now those torn down bleachers are being carted away.

Bonus Bowl Fact – By the way, Lamar Hunt, former owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, is credited with coming up with the title “Super Bowl.” He said it came to him after he saw his children playing with a toy called the “Super Ball.” It wasn’t a football.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowlhttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-a-tures/why-the-worst-stadiums-ho_b_9179616.html

Note: Talk to the Bleacher Experts. If your school or town needs aluminum bleachers, Aluminumbleachers.com is your source for bleachers for sale. We offer a full range of aluminum bleachers from low-rise to elevated to portable bleachers and tip and roll bleachers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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