Why Climate Helped Tampa Bay Become The First Team To Play A Super Bowl At Home

I am a sports fan and, my NFL football team of choice is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Even though I grew up in the Atlanta area, my childhood team was the Dallas Cowboys. I switched allegiance to the Buccaneers in the early 1990s after the Cowboys hired the head coach from the University of Miami Hurricanes. I am a three-time Florida State University alumnus. If you know anything about college football rivalries at that time, you will understand why it was hard for me to cheer for a team coached by Jimmy Johnson (smile). With that digression out of the way, it is always exciting to have your team in the Super Bowl. This year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making history as the only team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Ironically, climate likely played a role in why this record was achieved.

According to a 2010 Bleacher Report article, the National Football League (NFL) does not designate the Super Bowl to a location with climatological temperature less than 50°F unless the location has domed facility or a retractable roof. A handful of Super Bowls have been played in northern-tier cities. James Crabtree-Hannigan writing in The Sporting News said, “Since 2000, the coldest outdoor Super Bowl was Super Bowl 48 in 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey….kickoff temperature was 49 degrees, and the high was 55°F.” He also pointed out that the coldest Super Bowl was actually at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Super Bowl Six kicked off to temperatures of 39°F. The coldest Super Bowl day was Super Bowl Fifty-Two. The kickoff temperature in Minneapolis was 2°F, but luckily the game was played inside at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Which brings me to the climate connection that probably helped Tampa Bay achieve its record. For this analysis, I examined the last 25 years of teams playing in the Super Bowl (1995-2000). Over that period of time, the following data emerges:

  • The New England Patriots played in 10.
  • The Pittsburgh Steelers played in 4.
  • The Green Bay Backers played in 3.
  • The Philadelphia Eagles played in 2.
  • The New York Giants played in 3.
  • The Denver Broncos played in 4.
  • The Baltimore Ravens played in 2.

That is a total of 28 appearance by teams from cities with outdoor stadiums not likely to meet the aforementioned 50°F criteria in late January or early February. While my analysis is still speculative from a rigorous scientific perspective, common sense often prevails in science too, and the Buccaneers likely benefited.

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