Why not Pittsburgh?
If Super Bowl XLVIII opens up northern cities as future sites, Art Rooney II sees Pittsburgh as a possibility.
Imagine the city boasting the franchise that has won the game more times than any other, the very city located within the region of the country where the sport first was played professionally hosting a Super Bowl. What once would have been considered laughable has become imaginable.
“The fact we’ve now had a game outdoors in the north opens the door,” said Rooney.
Even before kickoff of the game at MetLife Stadium last Sunday, cities such as Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston and Denver had thrown themselves out as candidates to host future Super Bowls. So, why not Pittsburgh?
“There are questions about hotels and facilities and things like that where we need to compare ourselves to some of the competing cities,” said Rooney. “Indianapolis is one that’s a logical comparison, because it’s a similar size. I look at Indy, and I think the city has done a great job, but by the same token I’m not sure why we couldn’t do just as good a job. There’s work to do, but it’s certainly something worth some conversation at this point.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell put the required number of hotel rooms at 30,000. And the NFL also lists a “preferred” stadium capacity of 70,000.