It took four ballots—reducing the needed margin from two-thirds to a simple majority—but an historic joint bid by New York and New Jersey was rewarded yesterday with the selection of New Meadowlands Stadium as the site of Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. Now, state and local officials are predicting that the first outdoor NFL championship in a cold-weather site in almost 50 years will result in an economic windfall approaching $1 billion for the nation’s largest metropolitan area.
The recently opened $1.6-billion Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ was chosen over competing sites in Tampa and Miami, The new home of the Giants and Jets seats 82,500 and just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. A major part of the NY/NJ bid for the 2014 Super Bowl was the attraction of hosting related events during the weekend of the game in famous venues in New York City, with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop.
“A New York Super Bowl has been years in the making. This is a great day for fans of the Giants, Jets, NFL and New York,” New York Gov. David Paterson said. “Together, we are going to put on the greatest show in the history of professional football. This historic game will bring thousands of visitors and pump millions into the local economy. The bright lights of Broadway will shine on the gladiators of the gridiron. I want to thank Commissioner Roger Goodell and the rest of the NFL for recognizing that this grand event needed a truly grand stage.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg added: “In 2014, the world’s biggest game will take place on the world’s biggest stage. We’re the City that hosted ‘the greatest game ever played’ more than 50 years ago, and we’ll be ready for Super Bowl XLVIII. Our restaurants, stores and hotels will be ready. Our pubs, cafes and attractions will be ready.”
And if it snows? “We’ll be ready for that too–this isn’t beach volleyball…it’s football!” declared the NYC mayor. Just in case, New York will call on the Department of Transportation, State Turnpike Authority, and New York City Department of Sanitation to stand ready for snow removal, he added. The NFL waived it’s requirement that Super Bowl venues promise a minimum temperature of 50 degrees F. in early February to host the big game.
Based on an economic study conducted by Argus Group on behalf of the Jets and Giants football franchises, the New York Super Bowl will generate at least $550 million dollars of economic activity in the four to six weeks surrounding the game. It is presumed that of this total, more than $500 million dollars would come directly to New York State. Gov. Paterson predicted the event will bring in more than $750 million, and other officials exulted that a $1 billion windfall is not out of the question.
“This is great news for New York,” said Empire State Development Chairman & CEO Dennis M. Mullen. “The National Football League’s last two title games were among the greatest in the history of the sport, a New York Super Bowl will mark another historic moment in football. The thrill and excitement of the 2014 Super Bowl will bring an estimated 150,000 out of town visitors and an anticipated 400,000 to Super Bowl events here in New York. As one of the world’s most watched sporting events, hosting the Super Bowl here in New York is a boost to business and morale. When people root for a team they also root for the city, 52 years after the ‘Greatest Game Ever played’ today’s announcement is another reason to love New York.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie celebrated the Super Bowl site selection announcement in a sports bar in Carlstadt, NJ less than a mile from Meadowlands Stadium.
