NFL's Super Bowl Demands Prohibitive for City of Green Bay

The success of this year's New York/New Jersey Super Bowl prompted several other northern cities to campaign for the right to host a Super Bowl of their own. While the NFL has yet to award its biggest game to a local with suboptimal weather and an outdoor stadium since, the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl has further empowered the league to make exorbitant demands.

According to the leaked copy of the NFL's Super Bowl demands, host cities are requested to provide everything from full ticket sale revenue to three top golf courses for the months prior to the game. Such extravagance can only be fostered by an extremely competitive bidding environment, one that the NFL has successfully created over the past 25 years. With bids from cold-weather cities now pouring in, hosting a Super Bowl becomes increasingly taxing.

Which is why the City of Green Bay is unlikely to ever host a Super Bowl of its own.

The idea of Green Bay hosting the big game is hardly a new one. Even before the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl was even played, campaigning from the media for a frozen tundra championship had already begun in earnest. The imagery certainly has its appeal; a snowy championship game played in the NFL's most iconic stadium, home to the original Super Bowl champions.

The problem, of course, is meeting the NFL's burdensome list of requirements. The obviously fault in any bid would be the hotel accommodations. Due to its small size, Green Bay does not possess enough hotel space for the league's executives and sponsors, let alone the attending national media and fans. During Super Bowl week, the NFL creates a Disneyland-like campus for its events. That alone attracts tens of thousands of additional visitors. While in theory Appleton could shoulder some of the hotel burden, would the league even consider such an arrangement? Even if it would, its difficult to see Green Bay's bid overcoming all others considering the other Super Bowl demands.

Ultimately, while a Green Bay Super Bowl sounds like a unique, worthwhile event, there exist too many roadblocks to allow for it to come to fruition. The city may successfully attract other NFL events, but the Super Bowl likely remains out of reach.