Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey is quickly approaching and while the AFC Champion Denver Broncos and NFC title holding Seattle Seahawks are preparing to play the World Championship on Sunday, Feb. 2, multiple reports indicate that the biggest game of the season could experience a late change it date. After the New York Metro area and numerous parts of New Jersey experienced freezing temperatures and significant amounts of snowfall on Tuesday, Jan. 21 and Wednesday, Jan. 22, the National Football League is reportedly open to moving the date of the game to avoid another potential winter storm.
According to Weather.com, the forecast for Sunday, Feb. 2 in East Rutherford, New Jersey calls for a 30 percent chance of snow or rain with high temperatures in the mid-30's and low's in the 20's, with wind speed fluctuating between 5 and 15 miles per hour. This report is obviously not enough to alter the date of the National Football League's most-watched game but should these forecasts change in the week-plus leading up to the showdown between Denver and Seattle, the league may have no choice but to at least think about changing the time or even the date of the Super Bowl.
Eric Grubman, the vice president of NFL Business Operations, is fully aware that another winter storm could hit the Tri-State area right before or during the 2014 season finale. Due to the fact that public safety and the well-being of all those involved with the Super Bowl is the number one objective, Grubman notes that an altered date could be implemented but also says that it would take a storm worse than the previous one to force the league to change the date of the first cold-weather Super Bowl at an outdoor location.
“What goes into whether deciding to move it, first of all, is public safety,” Grubman said. “Unless it was a state of emergency which affected public resources in a way that made it impossible to get the resources here, or any kind of declaration by any of the authorities from the states involved that made it difficult to travel safety to and from the stadium, we would absolutely respect that.”
National Football League higher-ups also noted that due to the possibility of inclimate weather, contingency plans have been put in place, with details indicating that the title game could be played at any time between Friday, Jan. 31 and Monday, Feb. 3 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos -- who upended Tom Brady's New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game last weekend -- hope to win the franchises first Super Bowl since John Elway led the Mile High City to back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998 while the Seattle Seahawks hope to claim their first-ever World Championship.
As of now, kickoff for Super Bowl XLVIII is set for Sunday, Feb. 2 at 6:25 p.m., ET.
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