No Super Bowl Sunday this year?
There’s a myriad of planning that goes on behind the scenes of every Super Bowl. And just like any great plans, there’s always a backup one devised for the ‘what if’s’ in life.
The NFL has worked on contingency plans to prepare for what be the first totally cold weather Super Bowl. Last week the NFL put together a presentation to help quell the nerves of those who are panicking about the cold and perhaps future snowy conditions.
Super Bowl host committee Al Kelly offered the following statement:
“We want to make sure that the national audience certainly knows this region has tremendous assets and resources and knows how to get this done.’
“It’s nothing more than reassuring people that, despite the fact that the world’s greatest is going to be here, we still know how to clear snow. We keep the markets open every day and the schools open most days, and we’ll do a good job Super Bowl week as well.”
But still, there’s always the possibility of having a severe city stopping blizzard, what then? The idea of switching the date has been floated around. NFL Executive Vice President Eric Grubman confirmed on Tuesday on WFAN that in a worst case scenario the date would be changed:
“The decision to move it forward would occur if this is a tough storm, long with a potentially tough clean up…so that is one option, we could move it earlier in the day on Sunday–we could move it earlier in the week, we’re looking both Friday and Saturday”
The ultimate move, if it does occur, would need 36 hours advance warning in order to coordinate the switch–and that’s even if the snow hasn’t even hit yet.
This definitely helps shine a light on just how much planning goes into handling a game of this size and magnitude. The reality of having a torrential snowstorm hit is just something we’ll all have to face.
The biggest question is, if the game were moved how would it affect the ratings?