Mother Nature is proving to be one giant headache for the North East. After Tuesday's (Jan. 21) snowstorm, the NFL has started considering what will happen if another wintery storm decides to hit New Jersey/New York next weekend.
Next Sunday, Feb 2 is supposed to be Super Bowl Sunday but for the first time ever the NFL is hinting that the date could change if the weather is too bad, ABC reports. If the weather is too cold or snowy the biggest football game in the country could be moved to a new date. According to USA Today, those dates are anywhere between Friday, Jan. 31 and Monday, Feb. 3.
"If the Super Bowl is under siege because of Mother Nature and everybody's plans are all messed up... it sounds like something right out of the movies," Christine Brennan told USA Today.
"This is unprecedented stuff. The Super Bowl is the biggest sports event in the country," Brennan added. "And to think the date could actually move because of a snowstorm, that's possible. That's literally what we are talking about here."
So how likely is it that the date for the Super Bowl could change? Eric Grubman, executive VP for the NFL told USA Today that it would have to take a storm a whole lot bigger than Tuesday's snowstorm to change the date for the big game.
"What goes into whether deciding to [move] it, first of all, is public safety," Grubman said in a news conference at Met Life. "Unless it was a state of emergency which affected public resources in a way that made it impossible to get the resources here, or any kind of declaration by any of the authorities from the states involved that made it difficult to travel safely to and from the stadium, we would absolutely respect that."
Next Sunday's game is the first time in NFL history that the Super Bowl will take place in an outdoor, cold weather state. To help fans stay warm and "embrace the cold" the NFL said they will be handing out free game-day kits which includes hats, ear muffs, gloves, scarves, hand warmers, a quarterback-style hand pocket, tissues, lip balm and a cup holder.
"In quite a number of these Super Bowls we've handed out these seat cushions, which have been great souvenirs," Grubman said. "But this is part of our 'Embrace the Cold' [theme]."
According to Accuweather.com, the forecast for Super Bowl Sunday says there will be a 30 percent chance of snow or rain with a high temperature of 40 degrees and a low of 25.
