There’s something intoxicating about the sky over Phoenix. Something that is downright addicting. So clear, so beautiful, so constant blue. Not a single cloud has been seen for days. As far as the eye can see – only blue and sunshine. The thermometer also reliably reaches the 25-degree mark at this time of year.
Glendale venue for the third time since 2008
Summer feeling reigns here in the middle of February. For the fourth time in total – and for the third time since 2008 – the largest traveling circus in the world is visiting the Arizona desert. No other location in the United States has hosted the Super Bowl three times in the past 15 years.
Arizona was “a wonderful host in the past,” praised NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell when the league once again chose Glendale as the venue in May 2018. The 2008 and 2015 finals had previously been held there. And they’re “excited” to come back, Goodell said.
The Super Bowl is the highlight of the football season. The security precautions around State Farm Stadium in Arizona are immense. Also in the air.
09.02.2023 | 01:19 min
True, America’s tenth largest metro area doesn’t have the sex appeal of Miami or Los Angeles. And you won’t find the Creole charm of New Orleans here either. But desert, cacti and a little cowboy attitude also offer an interesting blend.
Super Bowl in the heat and sunshine
Of course, the NFL could have gone back to Detroit, as it did in 2006 – or to Indianapolis (2012) and Minnesota (2018). There the final would have taken place in imposing domes. But the whole Super Bowl feeling in the days before would have been completely different because of the winter in those cities.
In Phoenix or its popular suburbs of Glendale, Scottsdale or Tempe, on the other hand, the fans sit outside, enjoy the sun, the temperatures – and thus a break from the winter in Philadelphia and Kansas City.
Arizona has invested heavily since the last Super Bowl
David Rousseau, head of the Super Bowl Host Committee, saw the renewed contract for Arizona in 2018 as “a testament to the excellent reputation that our community has earned by hosting world-class events.”
Arizona’s appeal is understandable. In addition to the fantastic weather, the infrastructure and experience also speak for the Greater Phoenix area. Especially since a lot has been invested since the 2015 final. Around 90 new hotels with almost 7,000 new rooms have been built, and the stadium has been modernised.
Relationship between NFL and Arizona used to be strained
The fact that the NFL now comes here regularly was unthinkable almost 35 years ago. At that time, the relationship between the league and Arizona was extremely strained.
The NFL awarded the Super Bowl to Tempe in 1992, just outside Phoenix. But since Arizona voters voted against recognizing “Martin Luther King Day”, introduced by then US President Ronald Reagan in 1983, as a national holiday, the NFL withdrew the major event from the state – and hosted it in Pasadena, California.
Super Bowl boosts economy
When Arizona finally reversed its original decision in 1992, the NFL honored it. Super Bowl XXX came to Tempe in 1996 – and thus to the “Grand Canyon State” for the first time.
A 2015 study found that the then Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks had an “economic impact” of $720 million on the local economy. This time they are aiming for the sound barrier of one billion dollars in and around Phoenix.