Although the Cardinals are off to a 1-4 start entering their bye week, Arizona football fans received some good news Tuesday when the University of Phoenix Stadium was selected to host the Super Bowl in 2015, during a morning announcement in Houston.
The NFL and their 32 team owners chose Glendale over Tampa as Arizona received a minimum of 17 votes needed to secure the game in the second round of voting. Neither site received a majority of votes in the initial process.
Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee Chairman Mike Kennedy joined Brad Cesmat on “Big Guy on Sports” and said he wasn’t sure the state would be granted the opportunity to host their third Super Bowl.
“The Eastern seaboard has a close affinity with Florida,” Kennedy explained. “It’s a great place. They treated us very well in 2009 when the Cardinals went to the Super Bowl. There was no reason to think we were the favorites. This was a tough, close call.”
The game will likely boost Arizona’s tourism revenue which has slumped considerably due to the state’s struggling economy.
“We’re going to savor this a little bit,” Kennedy told Cesmat. “This is big for us. We’ve come down here (to Houston) three of the last four years and weren’t successful. It’s a great win for the state of Arizona.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell agreed Glendale is the right fit.
“It was a difficult choice, but we’re thrilled to be back in Arizona for Super Bowl XLIX.”
Arizona’s mild conditions will be a nice change of pace from last years freezing temperatures in Arlington, Texas and future cold-weather Super Bowl sites Indianapolis and New Jersey.
The New York Giants defeated the previously unbeaten New England Patriots 17-14 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Super Bowl XLII in Glendale.
The other Arizona-hosted Super Bowl took place in 1996 when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.
