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While Chicago is an awesome city and Soldiers Field is in a great location, the stadium itself is too small. Would they be able to add in any extra seats for the game?
They would have to update or start over, which is what I was saying above. Now that the seal was broken on NYC, Chicago would be the next logical cold weather open-air host, except the stadium is a hunk of garbage. The old lady (Virginia) has the whole organization on progressive hold until she passes.
It doesn't matter that Denver "can" get to 70 (hell, it was in the 70s in South Dakota this week), it doesn't matter that Seattle "usually" is above freezing, it matters what the worst case scenerio will be. And remember, the game is played after dark at night. Sunday forcasts:
Seattle: 40s and rain
Denver: Low of 23, snow
New York: Low of 15
Philly: Lows in the 20s
Pitt: Lows in the 20s, snow
Boston: Low 15
Kansas City: Low of 9, rain and snow
Chicago: Low of 15, snow
Green Bay: Low of 10, flurries
Basically, none of these are ideal for the "new" NFL. It basically would come down to the city (Chicago is the clear favorite, after NYC) and/or the franchise. The best combo is Chicago with a new stadium; out of the above list as they sit, outside NYC, Seattle seems like the most likely upcoming host to me, though it can easily drop into NYC or even Chicago temps in February there, and that will be an important consideration for the league.
The NFL got extremely lucky with a mild-weathered weekend last year in New Jersey. Look at the northeastern weather this week for comparison. Any future Super Bowl should be in either a dome or warm-weather location.
The NFL got extremely lucky with a mild-weathered weekend last year in New Jersey. Look at the northeastern weather this week for comparison. Any future Super Bowl should be in either a dome or warm-weather location.
That is fine... but the OP asked what non-traditional city with an open stadium would be most likely, not whether or not it would happen.
They would have to update or start over, which is what I was saying above. Now that the seal was broken on NYC, Chicago would be the next logical cold weather open-air host, except the stadium is a hunk of garbage. The old lady (Virginia) has the whole organization on progressive hold until she passes.
It doesn't matter that Denver "can" get to 70 (hell, it was in the 70s in South Dakota this week), it doesn't matter that Seattle "usually" is above freezing, it matters what the worst case scenerio will be. And remember, the game is played after dark at night. Sunday forcasts:
Seattle: 40s and rain
Denver: Low of 23, snow
New York: Low of 15
Philly: Lows in the 20s
Pitt: Lows in the 20s, snow
Boston: Low 15
Kansas City: Low of 9, rain and snow
Chicago: Low of 15, snow
Green Bay: Low of 10, flurries
Basically, none of these are ideal for the "new" NFL. It basically would come down to the city (Chicago is the clear favorite, after NYC) and/or the franchise. The best combo is Chicago with a new stadium; out of the above list as they sit, outside NYC, Seattle seems like the most likely upcoming host to me, though it can easily drop into NYC or even Chicago temps in February there, and that will be an important consideration for the league.
Just want to add for further consideration:
City = [ Average Feb High ][ Average Feb Precipitation ][ Average Feb Snowfall]
Seattle = [ 49.9 ][ 3.72 ][ 1.7 ]
Denver = [ 46.2 ][ .37 ][ 5.7 ]
New York = [ 41.6 ][ 3.09 ][ 9.2]
Philadelphia = [ 43.8 ][ 2.65 ][ 8.8]
Pittsburgh = [ 39.3 ][ 2.39 ][ 10.2]
Boston = [ 38.7 ][ 3.25 ][ 10.9]
Kansas City = [ 44.6 ][ 1.48 ][ 3.2 ]
Chicago = [ 35.8 ][ 1.94 ][ 9.1]
Green Bay = [ 28.2 ][ 1.11 ][ 9.9]
I put in bold the highest three temperatures and the lowest 3 precipitation and snow measurements. I would argue that by this hastily made table, that Denver and Kansas City are most likely to have the better weather in February. Seattle is the warmest with the lowest amount of snow, but it is also the most likely to experience precipitation. Of those cities, there are 3 that are better in all categories than New York: Denver, Kansas City, and Philadelphia.
I was going to do a table of worst case, with record lows and such, but I don't have the time and looking at the data, record lows and such are pretty awful in all of the cities.
Going by current city, current stadium, etc... I think the four of those that are most likely to host would be Denver, Kansas City, Seattle, and Philadelphia. Philadelphia has most history playing their first season in '33, Denver and Kansas City were original AFL teams in '60, and Seattle has the least history playing their first game in '76.
(Even though all of those cities are unlikely in the near future.)
Last edited by Xander_Crews; 01-28-2015 at 11:46 AM..
Xander - agreed that those cities are generally milder, but a city like Denver (just for one example) has a much greater range of weather possibilities than (say) NYC due to many factors that I'm sure you're aware of. That's why I said that the greatest consideration in planning is worst case scenario...and included Sunday's projected weather for each. It doesn't matter that KC can get into the 50s in February; it matters more than it can be 10 degrees with a below zero wind chill. For the NFL, 10 degrees would be considered a disaster, be it KC or Denver or NYC or Chicago. I personally would love it!
Xander - agreed that those cities are generally milder, but a city like Denver (just for one example) has a much greater range of weather possibilities than (say) NYC due to many factors that I'm sure you're aware of. That's why I said that the greatest consideration in planning is worst case scenario...and included Sunday's projected weather for each. It doesn't matter that KC can get into the 50s in February; it matters more than it can be 10 degrees with a below zero wind chill. For the NFL, 10 degrees would be considered a disaster, be it KC or Denver or NYC or Chicago. I personally would love it!
Well yeah, but like I said, if you look at the worst case scenario for ANY non-traditional open stadium city, they all would be completely unacceptable.
The funny thing is, the football players would complain less than the Super Bowl staff and spectators.
The funny thing is, the football players would complain less than the Super Bowl staff and spectators.
For sure. I grew up playing a lot of football, and it was fun as hell when it snowed on game day. The big linemen will almost across-the-board take cold over hot.
For sure. I grew up playing a lot of football, and it was fun as hell when it snowed on game day. The big linemen will almost across-the-board take cold over hot.
I liked cold, but not snow in high school. I played half-back though. I went to high school in Iowa, so I played games during freezing drizzle, ha ha.
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