If you’re familiar with Super Bowl host city history, you know very well the league doesn’t usually like to veer away from America’s warmest cities. Places like Miami and New Orleans have hosted the biggest U.S. sporting event at least 10 separate times, and they will host them many times in the future.
That is a guarantee. (New Orleans is the site of the 2025 Super Bowl!)
But if this is supposed to be a wholesale celebration of football — a veritable cornucopia of everything about this silly game that engulfs American culture these days — it’s high time the Super Bowl be hosted regularly outside of areas where it’s always 70 degrees in February. Super Bowls in Minneapolis, Detroit, Pontiac (Michigan) and Indianapolis (where they were all in a dome) and New York (New Jersey) remain the only cold-weather cities ever to host the big game. What a shame.
That, for lack of a better word, is absurd.
Here’s a list of new Super Bowl host cities we’d love to see in the future if the NFL ever decides to try something refreshing.
1
Denver
Denver is not exactly a city known for its urban life. People who come to live in the Colorado Front Range’s largest metropolitan area usually do so because of its proximity to outdoor activities in the Rocky Mountains. That said, there is something underrated about the Denver city landscape, particularly when it comes to music and food. And this is another place with a passionate connection to pro football because of the beloved Broncos that should be rewarded as such.
Never mind that Denver weather in February isn’t even all that bad — the sun comes out in the winter all the time! — making an outdoor Super Bowl seem much more appealing.
2
Chicago
OK, so, yeah… Chicago in mid-February isn’t the most enticing prospect. I understand. But this remains a world-class city that stands as one of the most important American cultural bastions in many respects. Having a Super Bowl here (probably not at the tiny eyesore known as Soldier Field; they’d build a new dome or stadium with a retractable roof) could also be a terrific homage to the history of pro football, given that the Bears were the NFL’s charter franchise.
Plus, there’s always the (growing) chance you get unseasonably mild weather! A win-win.
3
Seattle
I’m actually kind of surprised Seattle has never hosted a Super Bowl. In terms of weather, outdoor activities and food, this is probably one of the more underrated American cities (even with a recent heavy influx of transplants). Imagine coming into town for a big football game and stopping by Pike Place Market or the Museum of Pop Culture to kill some time.
I can. Make it happen, NFL.
4
Nashville
Fine. I’ll throw in one warm-weather city for good measure. At the very least, hitting up Central Tennessee for country music and hot chicken is much more interesting and fresh than tearing up Miami or New Orleans every three years. Sign me up. I would love a Super Bowl in Nashville.
5
Philadelphia
Folks, I’m sorry. We just have to expand our horizons a little bit. An average of 45 degrees as the high and 30 degrees as the low in a Philadelphia February is not all that bad. Not even close. You can layer up appropriately, and we can enjoy a bonkers week-long football party thrown by rabid Eagles fans while chowing down on Philly cheesesteaks. This would be really, really cool. I’m just saying.
