New Meadowlands Stadium Wins 2014 Super Bowl Honors

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-Digger's Daily-
NFL Commissioner Goodell officially announced the New Meadowlands Stadium has been selected as host venue for Super Bowl XLVIII. The 2014 will be the league's first Super Bowl in an outdoor stadium in a cold weather city. There were four rounds of secret balloting before the hosting city was selected. New Jersey beat out Tampa Bay and Miami.
Let the debate rage. Critics and supporters have begun feasting on today's news. There's good and shady swirling around the 2014 game. Time to take a look at all sides. First up, there's a standing NFL 50 degree rule stating no Super Bowl will be awarded to a city averaging colder than 50 degree winter temperatures (unless indoors). So why the exception? It's been reported often, except in the official SB award press releases, Commissioner Goodell has lobbied for the NY/NJ venue. No direct finger pointing has come from Tampa owners but it's very clear Goodell's influence played a role in the final decision. Perhaps even a little arm twisting. Why? For generations both Giants and Jets season tickets had been sold out. There were thousands of names on season ticket waiting lists. Often times, season ticket holders assigned (gifted) their seats in last will and testaments. A not so funny thing happened when Giants and Jets team owners announced building the New Meadowlands Stadium. PSL's were put into place. PSL stands for "personal seat license" which is a one time purchase which gives the fan a right to buy season tickets (plus, season ticket costs). For Giants fans PSL's range from $1,000 to $20,000. Jets fans have to fork over $4,000 to $30,000. Both teams are experiencing extreme difficulty selling season tickets (especially in today's economy). Rumor has it Goodell's intervention is an attempt to help the Giants and Jets sell remaining PSL's & season tickets. How much of a consideration this had on awarding SB XLVII the public will probably never know.

"Under normal circumstances, we probably would have walked away with the trophy," said Sandy MacKinnon of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl bid committee. "But the NFL was interested in making history with New York City and a new stadium. I think the odds were stacked against the traditional sunshine climate."

On the upside. Is it really a big deal if two teams compete for the NFL Championship in less than optimal weather conditions? No. Afterall, this is the NFL. The battle of the gridiron. Sports biggest stage. It's disconcerting hearing NFL guru's complaining of potentially cold or wet game conditions. This is the NFL. Previous Super Bowls have been predicated around warm or perfect weather conditions. Many seem to forget, before Super Bowls, Championship games were played in many less than perfect settings. That's football. Brutal cold Championships hosted in Green Bay, Chicago, Baltimore & New York. It's only fitting football's grand game is played on the world's biggest stage. Projected revenues for the New York, New Jersey area expected to exceed $550 million for the local economy represent a shot in the arm for a city in steep economic turmoil. It's high time the Super Bowl could be played in less than perfect weather conditions. Bringing the game to a new venue is a great move. SB XLVIII in 2014 will be played in the backyard of the world's media capital.

Giants to Host First NFL Game in New Meadowlands

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-Digger's Daily-

New York Giants. New York Jets. The New Meadowlands Stadium. Giants & Jets new home debuts in 2010. Cost, $1.7 billion. State of the art facility. Great field views from all seats. Jets website calls it the "New Jets Stadium". Giants website calls it the "New Giants Stadium". Both teams split construction costs and are 50/50 owners. Guess what they never decided before breaking ground? First team to host a game.

On Monday the NFL announced that a coin flip was held to determine first home host. Giants won the flip (SI.com). Jets are very upset.

"When the issue of which team would be hosting the first regular-season game could not be resolved on the merits, I suggested a coin toss as the fairest way to resolve this issue. The league rejected that idea. Then, I was told on Friday that a coin toss had taken place at the league office and that the Jets had lost. We rejected a process in which neither team was present. The league departed from our time-honored tradition and declined the opportunity to set the matter straight with a transparent process." (Woody Johnson, NY Jets owner)

NFL also announced both teams will play their season openers back to back. Giants open on Sunday and Jets Monday night. I can't help but laugh at this craziness. How does anyone cough up nearly one billion dollars without an agreement settling which team would be the first to play their home opener? It's bad enough both ownership groups agreed to keep their "New York" franchises in New Jersey after New York fought hard for their return. Jets & Giants playing in New Jersey has been a sad joke to New Yorkers for years. Now, we hear a coin flip decided first home team after ownership groups weren't able to reach a satisfactory arrangement.

Losing the first ever home opener probably doesn't matters to anyone outside of Woody Johnson. Woody shouldn't be so publicly irked now when this issue should've been settled long ago. It's the second major snafu by the Jets who for years hated playing home games in a stadium named for another. However, under the terms of the old stadium lease, changing the name of the stadium required the Giants' approval, and the Giants refused to change the name. Now, the Jets lose out on a coin flip and become miffed when flipping a coin was the Jets idea in the first place.

Personally, I'm happy to learn the Giants will host the first ever regular season game in the new stadium. Afterall, the old facility was called Giants Stadium. The Meadowlands has been home to the Giants since 1977. The Jets moved in after running away from New Yorkers & Shea Stadium in 1984.

Get over it Woody. If it meant so much then you should have negotiated a better deal before coughing up your money!