Super Bowl 2014: NFL Planning Ahead for Bad Weather

Sept 5, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants fans Janna Koch (left), Ryan Katz (center) and Nick Pennetti of Morristown wave Super Bowl towels before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

Traditionally the Super Bowl has been played in the southern United States to ensure good weather. Cities like Miami, Houston, San Diego, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville have all hosted the Super Bowl. Dallas hosted it once and had a historically cold week leading up to the Super Bowl when the city was immobilized by an unusually large amount of snow but it had the roof closed at Cowboys Stadium. Northern cities like Detroit and Indianapolis have hosted it but both have dome stadiums or retractable roofs.

So many were shocked that the 2014 Super Bowl would be held in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Jets and New York Giants. When we watched that particular part of the region get hammered by a snow storm this past week, it served as a sobering reminder of what game conditions could be like in 2014.

“You know it will be a lot cooler, but there will be a lot of people and transportation issues regardless,” said Jeff Miller, NFL vice president of security. “When you have a lot of moving parts and large crowds, you are moving on transportation systems already overloaded with daily commuters, so you’ve got some issues to deal with.”

NFL.com cited another source as saying “we have to look at all the angles: storm arriving day-of-game, storm arriving prior to game, storm arriving after game.”

So in the event of a snow storm what are the options? I personally wouldn’t mind seeing a snowy Super Bowl a throwback championship game of sorts reminiscent of the ice bowl.

Options include moving the game forward to Saturday, or delaying the game a couple days. Could you imagine a Saturday Super Bowl, or even worse… a Tuesday Super Bowl? Saturday would go against tradition, but certainly having a day off before work would be nice.

How would you go about planning a Super Bowl? What would the invite say?

"“Come watch the Super Bowl with all your closest friends on my new 72” plasma TV!Date: To be determined, Sunday I think. If it’s Saturday it’s on and bring more beer. If it’s Tuesday you’re on your own.”"

Statistically a n’oreaster like this one isn’t typical and a snow storm shouldn’t be expected. But as Dallas learned, you can’t count on your “usual weather” a nice 70 degrees in early February when the Super Bowl comes to town.