Big Game Big City

Millions of football fans across the country will watch Super Bowl LIV on February 2, 2020. It’s the National Football League’s championship game. But even before the game starts, a new record has already been set: This year’s game will be played in Miami, Florida, for the 11th time. That means Miami has hosted more Super Bowls than any other city since the first one was played in 1967.

In previous years, cities competed in a bidding process to host the game, says Janelle Prieto of the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee. It was a similar process to how cities bid to host other major sporting events like the Olympics and the World Cup. But now the big game rotates through a handful of large cities across the U.S.

To be eligible to host the Super Bowl, a city needs to have a stadium that can seat about 70,000 fans. It also needs to have plenty of parking and hotel availability within a 20-minute drive of the stadium.

On February 2, millions of football fans across the country will watch the Super Bowl. It’s the National Football League’s championship game. It hasn’t even started, but it has already set a new record. This is the 11th time the championship will be played in Miami, Florida. That means Miami has hosted more Super Bowls than any other city.

Cities used to compete to host the game, says Janelle Prieto. She works for the committee putting on the Miami event. Back then, each city made an argument for why it should be the host. It was similar to the process for choosing host cities for other major sporting events, like the Olympics and the World Cup. But now the Super Bowl rotates automatically through a handful of large cities across the U.S. 

A city needs a few things to host the Super Bowl. It must have a stadium that can seat about 70,000 fans. It also needs plenty of parking. There should be hotels within a 20-minute drive of the stadium.