You’d think so, if you listen to sports media. ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski hates it (and did even before it was cool), ESPN radio hosts like Colin Cowherd have weighed in against it as well. Fox’s Terry Bradshaw isn’t a fan, either.
Why are the protests against a cold-weather Super Bowl so loud? Despite what they may say about the weather affecting the game itself or the fans at MetLife Stadium, these folks have a personal reason: They’re covering the game, and spending a week in New Jersey in the winter sucks. Of course they want the Super Bowl in a warm weather city; spending a week in Miami in January and getting paid for it is good work if you can get it.
But the audience that has made the Super Bowl a cultural event – and not just a game – is the Super Bowl Party audience, the people who treat the game as a reason to gorge on buffalo wings with friends while discussing the commercials. The weather wouldn’t matter beyond possibly making the game entertaining. The NFL knows where it’s bread is buttered.
Incidentally, Hampton Stevens of the Atlantic thinks it’s a great idea, evoking memories of the “Ice Bowl.” Stevens probably won’t be at the game.
The weather media says it’s probably going to be nasty out there.
Jim Eltringham 