Super Bowl at a truly neutral site

A

algernonsidney

Well-known member
Has the NFL ever considered having the Super Bowl at a site that isn't close to anyone's home field? There are certainly some big stadiums that are not close to any NFL team. Here are some possibilities:

Legion Field in Birmingham
Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn
Ohio Stadium in Columbus
Trans World Dome in Saint Louis
Neyland Stadium in Knoxville
Bryant-Denny Stadium at Alabama
Beaver Stadium at Penn State
Alamo Dome in San Antonio
Darryl Royal Stadium in Austin
Florida Field in Gainesville
Memorial Stadium at Nebraska
Gaylord Family Stadium at Oklahoma
Doak-Campbell Stadium at Florida State

I think you see what I'm getting at here. Many of these stadiums are bigger than any NFL stadium as well. So, they could sell more tickets. I do wonder if some of these towns would be equipped to handle to influx of travel.

There is certainly some debate as well about how neutral these sites would be. I purposely didn't inclulde Ann Arbor on this list because it's too close to Detroit. Should it be at least 50 miles away? 100 miles away?
 
 
algernonsidney said:
Has the NFL ever considered having the Super Bowl at a site that isn't close to anyone's home field? There are certainly some big stadiums that are not close to any NFL team. Here are some possibilities:

Legion Field in Birmingham
Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn
Ohio Stadium in Columbus
Trans World Dome in Saint Louis
Neyland Stadium in Knoxville
Bryant-Denny Stadium at Alabama
Beaver Stadium at Penn State
Alamo Dome in San Antonio
Darryl Royal Stadium in Austin
Florida Field in Gainesville
Memorial Stadium at Nebraska
Gaylord Family Stadium at Oklahoma
Doak-Campbell Stadium at Florida State

I think you see what I'm getting at here. Many of these stadiums are bigger than any NFL stadium as well. So, they could sell more tickets. I do wonder if some of these towns would be equipped to handle to influx of travel.

There is certainly some debate as well about how neutral these sites would be. I purposely didn't inclulde Ann Arbor on this list because it's too close to Detroit. Should it be at least 50 miles away? 100 miles away?
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You can immediately remove any thought that they will allow a cold-weather city to host at an outdoor venue.
 
I don't consider LA to have any home field advantage, since everybody is from somewhere else.

They even went without a pro team for a long time.

LA isn't even a bonafide football town.
 
LA and locations in Florida (Tampa, Miami, etc.) I wouldn't consider to be real homefield advantages for anyone like playing at Arrowhead or Lambeau. Tons of folks from elsewhere, and generally not much of a diehard fan base presence.

The only way there will be any cold weather city Super Bowls is if they are played at domes, i.e. Indianapolis. The only real "neutral" site domes I can think of are in St. Louis and Syracuse.

Many of these theoretical locations would struggle to handle the travel and/or wouldn't have the amenities to handle it outside of the game. San Antonio and Austin could probably be doable. Maybe St. Louis. Columbus would be a big no being outdoors.
 
nwwarrior09 said:
Many of these theoretical locations would struggle to handle the travel and/or wouldn't have the amenities to handle it outside of the game. San Antonio and Austin could probably be doable. Maybe St. Louis. Columbus would be a big no being outdoors.
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I agree with this. Most of the college stadiums on the list are not in areas that could handle the influx of people that descend on the city for the week (or are in cold weather locations).

The Super Bowl is really only about 10% about the actual game as far as the NFL is concerned. It's more about the corporate parties and other events surrounding the weekend. They don't give a crap if they could sell a couple thousand more tickets. If the big money sponsors don't have a good time, there's no point as far as they're concerned.
 
Didnt sound like any team had a home field advantage due to the crowd yesterday so no, I think your assessment is pointless.
Detroit sounded like a home field for the Steelers when they were there.


Colleges: Mostly older stadiums without the prime suites and such.

Leave it as is. NFL teams are getting these amazing domed stadiums and one lure is the Super Bowl.

Ill be honest...if I was shelling out thousands and thousands of dollars for a ticket I wanna go some place warm to enjoy all the festivities. Game outside? Better be in the south!
 
thavoice said:
Didnt sound like any team had a home field advantage due to the crowd yesterday so no, I think your assessment is pointless.
Detroit sounded like a home field for the Steelers when they were there.


Colleges: Mostly older stadiums without the prime suites and such.

Leave it as is. NFL teams are getting these amazing domed stadiums and one lure is the Super Bowl.

Ill be honest...if I was shelling out thousands and thousands of dollars for a ticket I wanna go some place warm to enjoy all the festivities. Game outside? Better be in the south!
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Yes, put the SB in Mexico City. Could have bull fighting for halftime entertainment, either that or Shakira.
 
There's a joke going round that's based in truth - hold the Super Bowls at the Cowboys ATL Stadium. You'll never have to deal with the home team issue.
 
I should have menteioned Hawaii. They do have the Pro Bowl.

Maybe it's not really that big a deal that a team is playing at home though. It just doesn't seem right though.
 
algernonsidney said:
Has the NFL ever considered having the Super Bowl at a site that isn't close to anyone's home field? There are certainly some big stadiums that are not close to any NFL team. Here are some possibilities:

Legion Field in Birmingham
Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn
Ohio Stadium in Columbus
Trans World Dome in Saint Louis
Neyland Stadium in Knoxville
Bryant-Denny Stadium at Alabama
Beaver Stadium at Penn State
Alamo Dome in San Antonio
Darryl Royal Stadium in Austin
Florida Field in Gainesville
Memorial Stadium at Nebraska
Gaylord Family Stadium at Oklahoma
Doak-Campbell Stadium at Florida State

I think you see what I'm getting at here. Many of these stadiums are bigger than any NFL stadium as well. So, they could sell more tickets. I do wonder if some of these towns would be equipped to handle to influx of travel.

There is certainly some debate as well about how neutral these sites would be. I purposely didn't inclulde Ann Arbor on this list because it's too close to Detroit. Should it be at least 50 miles away? 100 miles away?
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Why would the NFL want to take BIG $$$$ and the Super Bowl away from their own Teams/Cities?
 
algernonsidney said:
Has the NFL ever considered having the Super Bowl at a site that isn't close to anyone's home field? There are certainly some big stadiums that are not close to any NFL team. Here are some possibilities:

Legion Field in Birmingham
Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn
Ohio Stadium in Columbus
Trans World Dome in Saint Louis
Neyland Stadium in Knoxville
Bryant-Denny Stadium at Alabama
Beaver Stadium at Penn State
Alamo Dome in San Antonio
Darryl Royal Stadium in Austin
Florida Field in Gainesville
Memorial Stadium at Nebraska
Gaylord Family Stadium at Oklahoma
Doak-Campbell Stadium at Florida State

I think you see what I'm getting at here. Many of these stadiums are bigger than any NFL stadium as well. So, they could sell more tickets. I do wonder if some of these towns would be equipped to handle to influx of travel.

There is certainly some debate as well about how neutral these sites would be. I purposely didn't inclulde Ann Arbor on this list because it's too close to Detroit. Should it be at least 50 miles away? 100 miles away?
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I don't know the entire dynamics to all of these stadiums, but the one major thing you have to have today is luxury boxes and suites. The Super bowl has become so corporate that the regular fan cannot go anymore. It's kind of sad that this is what's happened, and I'm all for capitalism but it's just out of control. I really only want to just watch the game and none of the other fluff that goes on.
 
A lot of the big college stadiums have been renovated to include more of the luxury boxes as well. I don't know they compare to the big professional stadiums though.

I am sure many of us remember the track at Ohio State. Jesse Owens ran on that track. University officials didn't care about that history, so they ripped it out. This isn't the only stadium that has removed a track.
 
An issue with many of the NCAA stadiums is they have bleachers, no way do NFL fans deal with that for the SB.
 
thavoice said:
College stadiums rely on nostalgia, NFL for luxury and the wow factor. Walk into a Lucas Oil vs The Shoe and tell me where ya would ratther spend nearly 4 hours in Feb for a SB!!
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The CEO of (name of company) isn't going to sit butt to butt with another fan.
 
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