The City of Houston has been selected as one of two finalists to host Super Bowl LI in February 2017.
At the NFL’s Fall Meeting, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that San Francisco and South Florida will duke it out for the opportunity to host the NFL’s 50th Super Bowl, Super Bowl L, in 2016. Goodell says the losing city will compete with Houston for the chance to host Super Bowl LI.
NFL owners will vote on the two Super Bowl sites during league meetings in Boston next May.
Houston’s bid is being lead by the Texans, the Greater Houston Convention and Visitor Bureau, the Harris County – Sports Authority and Reliant Park.
Texans president Jamey Rootes says Houston should feel good about their chances to host the Super Bowl in 2017.
"We all know we've got a fantastic city,” Rootes said. “We’ve got the best fans in the National Football League. We’ve got one of the great stadiums on the planet, and we have the most friendly people in the world. I think there are a lot of reasons why Houston ought to feel very optimistic about our chances. But it is the most competitive beauty pageant you can imagine. Everybody wants this game, and we’re going to go work hard to try to earn it for Houston."
Houston Mayor Annise Parker talked with NPR affiliate KUHF about the opportunity:
"We're glad to be in the mix and we'll continue to compete, whether it's baseball, football, basketball, soccer and any other sport you can think of, we want to be at the table trying to bring those games to Houston." Parker says winning a Super Bowl bid is a political process and the city will do its best to beat out its competitor. "It's a very competitive process. It involves the intra-organization politics of the NFL. It's not just about what the city has to offer, we know we can do a Super Bowl, the NFL knows we can do a Super Bowl. It's all the other things that they ask around it."
If selected, Super Bowl LI would be Houston’s third Super Bowl and the second in a 15-year period. The last Super Bowl Houston hosted was considered a success, minus the halftime wardrobe malfunction.
North Texas hosted the state's third Super Bowl in 2011 at Cowboy Stadium when an unexpected snow storm cooled down most of the pre-game festivities.
