Since the Kansas City Chiefs kicked off against the Green Bay Packers Jan. 15, 1967, the Super Bowl has only been above the Mason-Dixon line three times. All three times 1982, 1998 and 2012 have all been in domes. This year marks the first time the Super Bowl will be played outdoors in the north.
The Super Bowl will be hosted at the home of the New York Jets and New York Giants in MetLife Stadium. According to Weather.com, the forecast for East Rutherford, N.J., on Super Bowl Sunday is a high of 41 degrees and a low of 28 degrees. With wind possibly reaching 9 mph, expect a frigid wind chill.
The sun sets right before the Feb. 2 5:30 p.m. ET game time, meaning the temperature at kickoff should be close to the low. The coldest ever Super Bowl was 39 degrees in 1972. This Super Bowl should set new record lows.
The truth is the weather won’t affect the game much. Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning in his last eight games in weather below 40 degrees has completed more than 70 percent of his passes seven times. That percentage is higher than his season average this year at 68.3 percent.
On Dec. 15, quarterback Russell Wilson led the Seahawks against the Giants in MetLife stadium with a wind chill under freezing and won 23-0.
The weather has also been blown out of proportion. The game will not even be the coldest of the season. The Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers’ game Jan. 5 was only 4 degrees with a wind chill of -14 degrees. It was not a low scoring game with a final score of 23-20.
The talk of the weather is actually expected to boost ratings, with ratings expected to surpass last year’s game. The price of a 30-second ad space on Fox has jumped to an estimated $4 million.
People want to see a Super Bowl in cold weather. The thought of snow at a football game excites everybody. The viewers expecting snow might be disappointed though, with there being a zero percent chance of precipitation at this point.
The Super Bowl in the north is a new and strange idea, but it is bringing the most popular game to a huge media outlet of New York. New York is a legendary sports town that will finally have the Super Bowl close by. Expect ratings and excitement to climb. But don’t expect the weather of the north to change the game we love.
