Just a few weeks ago, Super Bowl L and Super Bowl LI were awarded to the cities of San Francisco and Houston, respectively. But that hasn't stopped Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel from continuing to pitch NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about The Windy City someday hosting the Super Bowl.
ESPNChicago.com reported that Emanuel and Goodell recently had a conversation about the possibility of a Super Bowl at Soldier Field.
"The mayor and Roger Goodell spoke last week on a number of matters," Emanuel's spokesman, Tom Alexander, said to ESPNChicago.com. "They speak or see one another on occasion. The mayor spoke with the commissioner about several things that would allow Chicago and the NFL to expand their already wonderful relationship. Chicago is a great sports town and a great football town, and the mayor wants to build on these strengths."
Emanuel cited the city's ability to host the 2012 NATO summit as evidence the city can handle a large event such as the Super Bowl.
"First of all, we've always been good enough to host the Super Bowl," Emanuel told ESPNChicago.com. "Obviously, they're going to have their Super Bowl in another (cold-weather) city. See how that goes. Two weeks ago, (we) had a bunch of world leaders here, the sixth-largest NATO summit. If we can do that, it'll be a perfect place to have a Super Bowl."
This isn't the first time Emanuel has trumped the city for Super Bowl-hosting duties, ESPNChicago.com reported. Emanuel started campaigning almost as soon as he took office, and he did so last year at a news conference when Soldier Field was honored as the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified NFL stadium.
If Chicago hosts the Super Bowl in the near future, it won't be the first cold-weather city to hold the event. New York will host Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, potentially giving future cold-weather cities a shot at hosting the big game.
"As you know, we are hosting a Super Bowl in New York in an open-air stadium in 2014, and we're excited about that," Goodell said at the news conference honoring Soldier Field. "We think it's going to be a great thing for our fans, and a great thing for New York.
"I think if we can do it successfully there, I think that opens up doors where we'll be looking at. Obviously, you know how to host great events. ... And you got a great stadium."
Emanuel also pitched Goodell the idea about Chicago becoming the new home of the annual NFL draft. The league is considering a move away from New York's Radio City Music Hall after the 2014 draft.
"We appreciate the mayor's interest in the NFL," NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello told ESPNChicago.com.
