Re-visiting every city that’s ever hosted a Super Bowl

Super Bowl locations rotate from year to year, and are pre-determined years in advance by the NFL. It might surprise some to hear that the previous 57 Super Bowls have been played in 20 different locations throughout history. The league has made more of an effort to give different cities a chance to host the championship game in recent years.

The very first Super Bowl was played in Los Angeles, and saw the Green Bay Packers take home the league’s first title. The NFL would go back to the city of angels for Super Bowl VII, where the Miami Dolphins completed the only perfect season in league history. Los Angeles has had an interesting relationship with the league throughout the years.

Miami might be the city that the Super Bowl is most associated with. It’s a preferred destination amongst NFL players, many of whom hail from the state of Florida. Super Bowl LIV was the most recent big game played in Miami, and featured the Kansas City Chiefs holding off the San Francisco 49ers.

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New Orleans is another city the NFL has come back to often as a Super Bowl host. It’s natural party-like atmosphere makes it a logical setting for people to descend upon. The Louisiana Superdome is also impervious to inclement weather, which provides ideal conditions for the participating teams.

The NFL awarded Houston Super Bowl VIII in 1974, but didn’t bring the big game back there again until 2004. The Texans franchise began play in 2002, so it made sense for the league to reintroduce the city into the rotation shortly thereafter. Houston was also the host city for Super Bowl LI in 2017.

Southern California used to be a popular destination for the Super Bowl back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Pasadena hosted the Super Bowl in 1977, 1980, 1983, 1987 and 1993. The Rose Bowl stadium can fit over 100,000 people, which made it a sensible draw for a league trying to maximize ticket sales.

Before the Detroit Lions called Ford Field home, they played at the Pontiac Silverdome. It might be better known as an automobile city than a tourist destination, but the NFL gave the 1982 Super Bowl to the city. It was a great game, as the San Francisco 49ers did just enough to get by the Cincinnati Bengals.

For many years, no team had ever played in a Super Bowl in their home stadium. That changed in 2021, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made it to the big game hosted in their complex. Tom Brady and Tampa Bay’s pass rush led the Buccaneers to a resounding 31-9 victory in front of their home fans.

The San Francisco 49ers had the luxury of playing in Super Bowls close to home, such as in 1985 at Stanford University. They hosted the Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino, who had set an NFL single season record that year with 48 touchdown passes. The 49ers shut down Miami’s passing attack to win the championship.

We may not see any more Super Bowls played in San Diego, since the Chargers left town to move to Los Angeles in 2017. The last title game played there took place in 2003, when a swarming Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense overwhelmed the Oakland Raiders. Tampa Bay’s defense featured the likes of Warren Sapp, John Lynch and Derrick Brooks.

It can be challenging for cold-weather cities to sell themselves as a Super Bowl destination, but Minneapolis has hosted the Super Bowl on several occasions. The first instance came in 1992, when the Washington Commanders defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24. More recently, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII held in Minneapolis in 2018.

Atlanta figures to be an appealing Super Bowl destination for many years, especially since Falcons owner Arthur Blank poured in a boatload of money to make Mercedes-Benz Stadium a world class facility. The New England Patriots stifled the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in the last Super Bowl played there in 2019.

The Arizona Cardinals used to play outdoors at Sun Devil Stadium, and the league awarded the franchise Super Bowl XXX in 1996. The Dallas Cowboys made Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell’s life miserable that day, as defensive back Larry Brown won Super Bowl MVP honors after recording two interceptions.

The NFL brought the Super Bowl to Jacksonville in 2005, but it seems like that might have been a one-and-done experiment. Reviews were not flattering surrounding the amenities and logistical setup. The New England Patriots outlasted the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21, which gave the Patriots their third title in four seasons.

The NFL awarded Super Bowl XL to Detroit for the 2005-2006 season, and the legacy of the game turned out to be extra large. The Pittsburgh Steelers took down the Seattle Seahawks 21-10, but many remember the contest for its officiating. Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren said after the game that he didn’t realize the Seahawks were playing against the referees too.

At this point, it feels like iconic moments happen whenever the Super Bowl is played in Glendale. The first instance came in 2008, where the New York Giants prevented the New England Patriots from achieving an undefeated season. The second occurred for the Patriots’ benefit, as they shockingly intercepted Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson at the goal line to win the title.

AT&T Stadium is often referred to as “The House That Jerry Built”, as a nod to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He got to show his new toy off in 2011, as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers squared off in Arlington. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the only Super Bowl of his storied career in that contest.

Super Bowl XLVI featured a rematch from four years earlier, as the New York Giants and New England Patriots did battle. Similar to the first meeting, this tilt came down to the wire, and the Giants prevailed for a second time. Indianapolis was an intriguing location from the game, as Giants quarterback Eli Manning’s brother Peyton spent so many years as a star in the city.

The NFL has largely refrained from playing Super Bowls in cities with cold weather climates that don’t have retractable roofs. They made an exception for Super Bowl XLVIII, which was played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The weather wasn’t actually that bad, but most fans will remember the Seattle Seahawks throttling the Denver Broncos 43-8.

The NFL pulled out all the stops for Super Bowl L, including bringing out the greatest living legends of the sport. New stadiums also tend to get the attention of the league, who awarded the 49ers’ new facility the game. The Denver Broncos pushed the Carolina Panthers around, and won the Super Bowl in what would be Peyton Manning’s final game.

A team won a Super Bowl in its home stadium for the second straight season, as the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. This location figures to be a popular choice for Super Bowls down the road, given its proximity to Los Angeles and it’s accessibility to Southern California.