Heavy rains in Los Angeles have lead to a Super Bowl windfall for Tampa Bay.
NFL owners voted unanimously Tuesday to push the L.A. Super Bowl back a year to 2022, opening up 2021 for Tampa. Raymond James Stadium will now host Super Bowl LV.
“The Tampa Bay area has enjoyed great success over the years hosting Super Bowls and we look forward to working with our local leaders in the coming months to meet the requirements for hosting Super Bowl LV in 2021," Tampa Bay Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer said. "Today’s announcement offers us the opportunity to showcase Tampa Bay’s unique ability to come together as a host for world-class events.”
Construction delays on the stadium that will house the Chargers and the Rams have pushed the opening date to 2020, a year before the city of Los Angeles was scheduled to host Super Bowl LV. NFL rules stipulate a new venue can’t host a Super Bowl in its first year.
The Tampa Bay area has played host to four Super Bowls, the first in 1984 and the last in 2009. It’s been the longest drought in between hosting Super Bowls, that also included Super Bowl XXV in 1991 and Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.
Raymond James Stadium has undergone a multi-million dollar renovation in the last couple of years, hoping to land another Super Bowl. Tampa has been a finalist in recent voting, but Atlanta and Miami, followed by L.A. were chosen. Now Tampa Bay organizers begin work to get ready for the NFL's biggest game in four years.
The Tampa site must meet certain requirements, including hotel and transportation plans, by Aug. 25.
"While today's encouraging news officially signifies that we're in the red zone, our focus remains on crossing the goal line by meeting host requirements in the days ahead," Tampa Bay Sports Commission executive director Rob Higgins tweeted. "We are extremely grateful to the Glazer family, as well as all of our community partners, whose efforts have helped position us to reach the ultimate goal of hosting our fifth Super Bowl."