Super Bowl LV
Super Bowl LV, the 55th Super Bowl and the 51st modern-era National Football League (NFL) championship game, will decide the league champion for the 2020 NFL season. Pending developments in the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and how it affects the start of the 2020 season, the game is scheduled to be played on February 7, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.[1] This will be the fifth Super Bowl hosted by the Tampa area and the third one held at Raymond James Stadium. The game will be televised nationally by CBS. It will be the fourth time that the Super Bowl is in the same state in back-to-back years with Super Bowl LIV taking place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.[2]
Date | February 7, 2021 |
---|---|
Stadium | Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida |
TV in the United States | |
Network | CBS |
Announcers | Jim Nantz (play-by-play) Tony Romo (analyst) Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn and Jay Feely (sideline reporters) Gene Steratore (rules analyst) |
Radio in the United States | |
Network | Westwood One |
Host-selection process
On May 19, 2015, the league announced the five finalists that will compete to host Super Bowl LIII in 2019 and Super Bowl LIV in 2020. NFL owners voted on these cities in May 2016, with the first round of voting determining who will host Super Bowl LIII, the second round deciding the site for Super Bowl LIV; and in a development not known in advance, a third round of voting was added to select a Super Bowl LV hosting site during the meetings.[3] At the NFL owner meetings on May 24, 2016, Atlanta and Miami were awarded Super Bowls LIII and LIV respectively, removing them from the running. Los Angeles was not eligible for Super Bowl LIII, as its stadium would not yet be finished; it was eligible for LIV and LV, opting to bid only on the latter.
The two candidates were as follows:
- Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida: Tampa has hosted four Super Bowls, the last being Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.
- SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California: Los Angeles has hosted the Super Bowl seven times, most recently in 1993 with Super Bowl XXVII; that game, along with the four prior Super Bowls in the area, was held at the Rose Bowl while the first two Super Bowls in the Los Angeles area were held at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Los Angeles was originally chosen as the host site in a vote on May 24, 2016.[4][5][6] However, due to construction delays, authorities announced that SoFi Stadium would not be completed until the start of the 2020 NFL season.[7] On May 23, 2017, NFL owners voted unanimously, with the Rams' approval, to move Super Bowl LV to Tampa. The City of Inglewood will instead be hosting Super Bowl LVI in 2022.[8]
Contingency plans for the COVID-19 pandemic
Should the 2020 season be delayed because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the bye week before the Super Bowl could be eliminated, and the game itself could be moved back three weeks.[1][9]
Broadcasting
United States
Super Bowl LV will be televised by CBS. Although NBC was to air this game under the current rotation, they traded the game to CBS in exchange for Super Bowl LVI, which falls during the 2022 Winter Olympics and is the first to be scheduled during an ongoing Olympic Games (this also upholds the untold gentleman's agreement between the NFL's broadcasters to not counterprogram the Super Bowl,[10] as NBC also holds the U.S. broadcast rights to the Olympics). CBS will, to an extent, also benefit from holding rights to the Super Bowl in the same year that it holds rights to the NCAA Final Four (which is cycled with WarnerMedia Entertainment channels on a two-year cycle with TBS, as well as the AFC Championship Game in primetime (which contractually alternates between afternoon and primetime on a two-year cycle with the NFC Championship Game on Fox).[11][12]
See also
American football portal
References
- Fraser, Sam (May 7, 2020). "NFL is ready to call an audible or two if coronavirus forces schedule changes". Los Angeles Times.
- "2019 Super Bowl LIII Location and Date". Retrieved February 4, 2018.
- Battista, Judy (May 23, 2016). Future Super Bowl sites, Las Vegas among topics at NFL meeting. NFL.com. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- Rosenthal, Gregg. "Atlanta, South Florida, L.A. chosen to host Super Bowls". NFL.com. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
- "NFL awards 2021 Super Bowl to Los Angeles". Los Angeles Times. May 24, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
- "NFL awards future Super Bowls to Atlanta, South Florida and Los Angeles". CBS Sports. May 24, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
- Farmer, Sam; Fenno, Nathan (May 18, 2017). "Inglewood football stadium's opening will be delayed a year because of record rainfall". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- "Super Bowl LV relocated to Tampa; L.A. will host SB LVI". NFL.com. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- Schefter, Adam (May 7, 2020). "Sources: Super Bowl LV could provide the NFL a pandemic scheduling solution". ESPN.
- "Goal of spectacle colors NFL's thinking about Super Bowl halftime show". Chicago Tribune. February 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- "CBS, NBC in 'Freaky Friday' Super Bowl swap". adage.com. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- Steinberg, Brian; Steinberg, Brian (March 13, 2019). "CBS, NBC to Swap Super Bowl Broadcasts". Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2019.