The San Francisco Bay area can now celebrate. NFL owners voted for the 49ers new stadium, the Levi's stadium, as the host for the 2016 Super Bowl game. The facility in Santa Clara, Calif. is scheduled to open for the 2014 season. San Francisco beat out South Florida for the bid. Florida lost the bid when Florida Legislature did not support financing needed to renovate Sun Life Stadium. South Florida has hosted ten Super Bowls in the past.
The only other Super Bowl game held in northern California was at Stanford Stadium in 1985.
"The Bay Area has been waiting for a (title) game since 1985. We have a stadium now... we are just thrilled and couldn't be happier about this," said Daniel Lurie, a leader of the San Francisco bid. "We are going to get to highlight the best the Bay Area has to offer."
The game is expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the area, the San Jose Mercury News reports. It will also bring a lot of attention to the Bay Area. Dozens of pre-game events will be scattered around the Bay Area, with San Francisco hosting the majority of the events. The NFL expects the 50th Super Bowl to be a huge celebration.
The 2017 Super Bowl was awarded to Houston, which also beat out Miami. In 2004, Houston hosted the NFL championship game.
The 2015 game will be played in Phoenix, Ariz. with next year's game set to be at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. This will be the first time a game is played at a cold-weather stadium. If the game goes well, similar cities like Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago and Denver will have a better chance of winning future bids.
