Lost in the unbridled enthusiasm that emerged once NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made like the late Juan Antonio Samaranch and awarded Super Bowl XLVIII to New York/New Jersey is the fact that a sizable chunk of the league’s owners didn’t want it.
The rapid-fire four-round voting process, which occurred so quickly that it’s unlikely anyone changed their minds, failed through three segments to conjure a 24-vote Super Bowl supermajority for New York. In the end, as many as 15 of 32 owners voted against New York.
Given the inability of New York only minutes before getting at least 17 votes to land 24, it means that at least nine owners were opposed.
So, basically, anywhere from nine to 15 owners didn’t want the game to be played in New York/New Jersey. (Some would say that there’s a, yes, schism among ownership on this point.)
In the end, maybe I’m focusing on this point because we (or at least I) believe the league is playing Russian roulette with an American institution. But the conscious and deliberate risk that at least 17 but no more than 23 owners are willing to take will serve only to increase interest in what will be the most anticipated Super Bowl ever.