Chicago Mayor Wants Super Bowl and NFL Draft Hosted at Soldier Field
By Josh Sanchez
The New Jersey stadium, which is home to the New York Giants and New York Jets, will be hosting the Super Bowl next season in a trial run for cold-weather cities, but there is another city that allows weather conditions to be a factor that is interested in hosting the NFL’s big game. Not only that, but the same city would like to host the NFL Draft. According to reports, Chicago may Rahm Emanuel would like to see the Chicago Bears host both of the major NFL events, with the Super Bowl being at Soldier Field.
There have been rumblings that Chicago could want a Super Bowl if next year’s in New Jersey goes well, but now Emanuel has begun talking to commissioner Roger Goodell in an effort to make that become a reality.
“The mayor and Roger Goodell spoke last week on a number of matters,” Mayor Emanuel’s spokesman, Tom Alexander, said, via ESPNChicago.com. “They speak or see one another on occasion. The mayor spoke with the commissioner about several things that would allow Chicago and the NFL to expand their already wonderful relationship. Chicago is a great sports town and a great football town, and the mayor wants to build on these strengths.”
With the draft, it is currently scheduled to be held once again at Radio City Music Hall in New York City for 2014, but there are no plans for a host site following that year.
It could make sense for a Super Bowl to be hosted in Chicago, especially if all goes well in New Jersey, but moving the NFL Draft to Chicago doesn’t make too much sense. The NFL’s headquarters are in New York City, so it seems like the most appropriate place to host the player entry draft.
If by chance the Bears got an opportunity to host the big game, it wouldn’t come until 2018 at the earliest, so Emanuel will have plenty of time to convince the NFL commissioner that his city is capable and deserving of hosting the league’s premier event.