The Super Bowl is one of, if not the greatest sport spectacle in the United States. To date, there have been 57 Super Bowls from Green Bay’s Super Bowl I win all the way up to the Kansas City Chiefs’ win in Super Bowl LVII last year. The venue selection process is an intense bidding war with several potential Super Bowl venues left in the lurch. Each city must convince the NFL with a pitch with regard to weather, hotel situation, stadium quality, and a host of other logistical issues.
In those 57 years, the NFL has used 27 stadiums in 19 different cities. There are plenty of Super Bowl-worthy venues left in the United States that have never hosted the prestigious game. With the next three games planned out, there are negotiations going on for 2028 and beyond, so a new stadium could be selected in time.
5 Super Bowl Venues the NFL Should Look At
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Three years ago, history was made. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in their own home stadium. The following year, the Los Angeles Rams did the same. Considering the current iteration of the Kansas City Chiefs consistently having the best NFL odds to win the Super Bowl thanks to Patrick Mahomes, why not cut out the middle man and host the Super Bowl in Kansas City?
High-leverage games are not foreign to Arrowhead. Ever since Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback, he’s had home cooking in every single playoff game.
Arrowhead is known for its raucous fans and ability to break records for the loudest stadium. The 76,416-seat venue would be perfect to host a Super Bowl. Logistically, it is well-equipped to host a massive NFL game. Honestly, the only concern would be the potential weather. February in Kansas City is not exactly vacation weather.
The Super Bowl has been in a “cold-weather” stadium before, though it is rare. Hosting the Super Bowl in Kansas City to take advantage of that fanbase would yield the NFL a massive payday.
The Dome at America’s Center, St. Louis, Missouri
From one Missouri stadium to another, The Dome would be near the top of potential Super Bowl venues.
The Dome is home to plenty of events throughout the year and was the home of the St. Louis Rams back in the day. The fans in St. Louis are known for their tenacity and hosting a Super Bowl in their city would do wonders when it comes to remedying the relationship between them and the league after the Rams skipped town.
The 67,000-seat stadium is also home to the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks. As with Arrowhead, the location is perfect as it is in the middle of the country. Fans from all over can come and enjoy the festivities regardless of where they’re from. Hosting the Super Bowl in the Deep South or West Coast can weed out a number of fans who have to travel the entirety of the country. How annoying would it be if the Seahawks had to go to a Super Bowl in Miami? The one thing the Super Bowl lacks is that hometown feel. This would help.
Oh, and it’s a dome, as the name implies. No need to worry about the weather, considering Detroit, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis have all hosted.
The Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
While the Cotton Bowl (bowl game) has transitioned to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the Cotton Bowl can provide fine housing for the greatest game in sports. The annual Red River Showdown between Texas and Oklahoma takes place at the Cotton Bowl and the atmosphere is among the best.
The capacity is 92,100 which, if sold out, would be the seventh-largest attendance in Super Bowl history behind a handful of other college football-primary stadiums. The Cotton Bowl is no stranger to massive games, considering it hosts one of the top regular-season games of the year as well as the bowl game.
Climate would, obviously, be a non-issue. The NFL does love to go back to its roots as evidenced by all of the throw-back uniforms and such. The first professional football team in Texas was the Dallas Texans and they called the Cotton Bowl home…for one year (1952). Regardless, the Dallas Cowboys came to town and played at the Cotton Bowl for 12 years.
The Big House, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Now is where things get crazy and a bit more pie-in-the-sky. The Big House. The Super Bowl is the largest sporting event in the United States (and, arguably, the world), so why not go to the largest stadium in the country? Would it not be a massive spectacle, making it one of the the most interesting Super Bowl venues to date?
Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan and The Big House can house over 107,000 and has even been clocked as having more than 115,000.
Logistically, there are concerns, of course. The Big House is located on the UM campus. Now, Michigan does host plenty of events and therefore has plenty of hotel options. Another concern, obviously, would be the weather. It gets cold in Michigan in February, if you didn’t know.
Either way, imagine the final drive of a contentious Super Bowl with 110,000+ obnoxious, screaming fans situated in a way where everyone had a great seat? It would go down as one of the greatest games in American history.
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Ohio Stadium, a.k.a. The Horseshoe, Columbus, Ohio
As with Michigan, Ohio State is home to one of the largest and most prestigious stadiums in all of the land. The horseshoe can seat over 102,000 and would rival the top Super Bowl venues thus far.
Ohio Stadium, and Ohio State as a whole, host all kinds of massive events from Ohio State football games to multiple nights of Taylor Swift concerts. Needless to say, the infrastructure is there to host a week-long insanity fest that is the Super Bowl.
When Ohio Stadium was built, it was built with the fans in mind. They constructed the seating so that the upper level covers the lower bowl and gives every fan the optimal viewing experience.
Yes, February in Columbus, Ohio is not exactly sunny and 75, but the NFL has its roots in Ohio. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is just up I-71 in Canton and the Canton Bulldogs and Dayton Triangles were among the first professional football teams. The league even went back to Cleveland after its owner jumped ship in the middle of the night.
Football and Ohio go together. Hosting a Super Bowl in Ohio is ideal and where else but the premier stadium in the middle of the state? You bet, it would be one of the great unused Super Bowl venues.