Thaindian News

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — The National Football League (NFL) on Tuesday choose Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey to host the 2014 Super Bowl.

Team owners choose Meadowlands Stadium, a new $1.6 billion facility in East Rutherford, over Miami and Tampa, Florida, as the site on the fourth ballot at the NFL Spring Meeting in Irving, Texas.

It took four voting rounds to find a winner. No bid received the required 24 of 32 votes on the first ballot, so NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called for a second ballet. In that ballot, team owners eliminated Miami.

But, even after a third ballot, the team owners could not choose between New York and Tampa. Therefore, in the fourth ballot, a simple majority was needed. New York-New Jersey won.

The NFL waived a rule aimed at ensuring good weather for its event so the New York area could put together a bid for the game. Meadowlands Stadium, which will open later this year, does not have a roof, and temperatures are usually in the 20s during early February in New Jersey.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg immediately responded with joy to the news. “In 2014, the world’s biggest game will take place on the world’s biggest stage,” Bloomberg said. “We’re the City that hosted ‘the greatest game ever played’ more than 50 years ago, and we’ll be ready for Super Bowl XLVII. Our restaurants, stores and hotels will be ready. Our pubs, cafes and attractions will be ready.”

And if it snows, Bloomberg said, New York will be ready too. “This isn’t beach volleyball, it’s football,” he said.

The event is also expected to boost New York’s economy. “The economic impact of the Super Bowl on New York City is expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars,” Bloomberg said. “Given the way New Yorkers know how to throw a party, I think the impact of New York City on the Super Bowl will be just as big.”

New York Governor David Paterson also responded with joy, promising to put on the greatest show in the history of professional football. “A New York Super Bowl has been years in the making – this is a great day for fans of the Giants, Jets, NFL and New York,” Paterson said. “Together, we are going to put on the greatest show in the history of professional football. This historic game will bring thousands of visitors and pump millions into the local economy. The bright lights of Broadway will shine on the gladiators of the gridiron.”