Super Bowl XLVIII

Super Bowl XLVIII will be the 48th edition of the Super Bowl in American football, and the 44th annual championship game of the modern-era National Football League (NFL). It is scheduled to be held on February 2, 2014 at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey to determine the champion for the 2013 season. This would be the first Super Bowl to be played outdoors in a cold weather environment, the first in 38 years to be played outdoors on artificial turf and the first in which two US states (New York and New Jersey) will work together with hosting duties. Because it will be held outside, planners say there may be logistical issues that could arise that no other Super Bowl has ever experienced, including the possibility of holding the in-stadium halftime show in extremely frigid, inclement weather.

In the United States, the rights to televise the game nationally are held by Fox and simulcast in Canada on CTV.

Host selection process
Three stadiums were part of the bidding to host the game:


 * 1) MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, New Jersey
 * 2) Raymond James Stadium – Tampa, Florida
 * 3) Sun Life Stadium – Miami Gardens, Florida.

Tampa has hosted four Super Bowls (XVIII, XXV, XXXV, XLIII). South Florida / Miami has hosted ten Super Bowls (II, III, V, X, XIII, XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, and XLIV).

South Florida / Miami was eliminated in the second round of voting. New Jersey beat Tampa in the fourth round of voting, after receiving a simple majority.

Super Bowl XLVIII will be the first Super Bowl intentionally held at an open stadium in a "cold-weather" city; previous Super Bowls in cold-weather cities were held at indoor stadiums. To date, the coldest outdoor Super Bowl was Super Bowl VI, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans on January 16, 1972, with a kickoff temperature of 39 F. However, New Orleans usually has a humid subtropical climate, with January morning lows averaging around 46 F, and daily highs around 63 F. Since Super Bowl X in 1976 all but one outdoor Super Bowl has been played in either California or Florida, the exception being Super Bowl XXX in Tempe, Arizona. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has indicated that if Super Bowl XLVIII is successful, additional "cold-weather" Super Bowls will be considered.

Super Bowl XLVIII will be the first NFL Championship Game to be held in the New York metropolitan area since December 30, 1962, when the Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants in the original Yankee Stadium, 16-7. Since then, two other major pro football leagues have held title games in the area:


 * 1968 AFL Championship Game at Shea Stadium, December 29, 1968: New York Jets 27, Oakland Raiders 23 - a rematch of the infamous "Heidi Game". The Jets went on to Super Bowl III, where they upset the Baltimore Colts, 16-7.


 * 1985 USFL Championship Game at Giants Stadium, July 14, 1985: Baltimore Stars 28, Oakland Invaders 24. This game would turn out to be the final contest in the league's three-year history, since an attempt to move the spring/summer USFL to a fall schedule in 1986 was aborted after the USFL was awarded just $1 (tripled to $3) in its 1986 antitrust case vs. the NFL.

New York City was scheduled to host Super Bowl XLIV upon the completion of the proposed West Side Stadium. When the stadium proposal was rejected, Sun Life Stadium in Miami was selected to host the game instead.

MetLife Stadium will be the first Super Bowl venue which is simultaneously home to two NFL teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (which hosted Super Bowls I and VII) was the home of the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Raiders, but not at the same time.

Halftime show issues
As the first Super Bowl held at an open stadium in a "cold-weather" city, planners have indicated that there may not be a halftime show due to the weather. One such logistical problem that could arise is trying to assemble and disassemble the halftime show stage during a cold blizzard. However, the league has stated that an in-stadium Super Bowl halftime show will still be held. According to Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com, the NFL still wants to avoid a repeat of what happened during Super Bowl XXVI in January 1992 when Fox counter-programmed a special live episode of In Living Color; as a result of that ratings success, the league tapped Michael Jackson to perform during the following season's Super Bowl XXVII, and more big-name talent since then to hold the TV audience.