When the NFL was forced to move from Sunday to Tuesday a prime-time game between the Vikings and Eagles due to a looming blizzard in Philadelphia, we asked the NFL whether there were any second thoughts about hosting a Super Bowl in an open-air New Jersey stadium.
“We are the ultimate reality show,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said at the time.
He’s right. And the blizzard bearing down on the region demonstrates how real it could be.
Despite the huffing and puffing from the powers-that-be regarding the plans for Super Bowl XLVIII, there’s no way to know whether another blizzard will hit the region on game day until the game approaches. And while that will create plenty of additional interest as February 2, 2014 approaches, the end result could be a lot worse than a 34-minute power outage.
Really, if the blizzard that hit Philly in late December 2010 was enough to bump a regular-season game by two days, what will a direct hit from a major winter storm do to the league’s annual marquee event?
Chances are it will be fine. By why take an avoidable risk?
In fairness to the league, all has gone mostly well before, via the quid pro quo Super Bowls awarded when new stadiums were built in Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Detroit (twice). But those stadiums are all covered. And eventually, if the NFL keeps staging Super Bowls in cold-weather cities, a blizzard will hit the host city on the day of the game.