Super Bowl Sunday is finally here and it looks like the NFL has avoided any of the nightmare weather scenarios bandied about over the last few months.
It’s a cloudy but pleasant day in East Rutherford that feels a lot more like late October than early February and forecasts have things staying this way for the rest of the afternoon and evening. With that potential stumbling block out of the way, the week has gone well enough that Giants owner John Mara is already thinking about an encore.
“Based on everything that’s happened so far, yes,” Mara said on ESPN Radio with Ian O’Connor. “If we can be assured that we’d get the same cooperation from all the different government entities that were involved, which has been tremendous so far, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t consider doing it again. I think that when the NFL owners that are here, when they leave MetLife Stadium tonight after this game, I’m pretty confident that most of them will say to themselves that it was a great idea to have this event in this area, New York and New Jersey, and why not come back here again. It’s good for the league.
During his Friday press conference, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that he thought the league needed to bring the game to as many communities as possible and that he didn’t project too many cities getting multiple games in the near future. Mara said he thought that a successful game on Sunday should open up doors for other cold weather cities, but not without adding another plug for a return trip.
“I think it will open up some people’s eyes as to why not at least consider other areas and I think we will do that,” Mara said. “But let’s face it, there is only one area like this one with the number of attractions and venues and all that New York and New Jersey have to offer. But I certainly think it does open the door a little bit for other venues.”
Things have gone smoothly all week and the only complaint from here would be that the game never quite took over the area the way it has in other cities. As someone who has lived and worked in New York City almost all his life, I’ll say that things didn’t feel too different from any other week until closer to Sunday when Broncos and Seahawks fans started popping up in greater numbers on the streets. That’s not a bad thing or a reason not to do it here again, but it was a difference from what usually happens when the NFL comes to town.