The NFL announced three future Super Bowl locations on Tuesday afternoon at the owners' meetings in Charlotte. The league awarded future Super Bowls to Atlanta, South Florida and Los Angeles, setting the stage for the next five years of championships:
Super Bowl LI (Feb. 5, 2017) -- Houston
Super Bowl LII (Feb. 3, 2018) -- Minneapolis
Super Bowl LII (TBD, 2019) -- Atlanta
Super Bowl LIV (TBD, 2020) -- South Florida
Super Bowl LV (TBD, 2021) -- Los Angeles
It's pretty obvious how to land a Super Bowl in the modern NFL: spend money. Atlanta and Los Angeles both have new stadiums coming (the Falcons Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be ready in 2017) and the massive Los Angeles stadium project for the Rams is slated for 2019.
So each stadium will have a full season of usage to get prepped before hosting a Super Bowl.
The Dolphins also spent a boatload of cash on renovations to Sun Life Stadium as well, and were rewarded for Stephen Ross' aggressive plan to improve the quality of the venue.
New Orleans was considered a strong favorite to land a Super Bowl at these owners' meetings, but the city only applied to secure one for 2019 and was eliminated by the Falcons in the first round of voting for that Super Bowl.
It left South Florida and Tampa to battle for the 2020 Super Bowl and the Dolphins won on a majority ballot.
Los Angeles -- the new crown jewel of the NFL -- was a no-brainer move for 2021 and L.A. quickly was awarded Super Bowl LV.
3:49 p.m. ET -- And that was quick as Los Angeles was announced as the host for the 2021 Super Bowl. No huge surprise, with the NFL wanting to quickly reward the Rams for moving to the west coast and then building a massive new stadium there.
Super Bowl LV will be quite the party.
3:48 p.m. ET -- For your viewing pleasure:
Super Bowl 53 is a CBS Super Bowl. Super Bowl 54 is on FOX. Super Bowl 55 is on NBC. (2017/Houston is FOX; 2018/Minn is NBC). @NFLonFOX
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) May 24, 2016
3:45 p.m. ET -- South Florida will host Super Bowl LIV (2020). The Dolphins were rewarded for pumping money into the stadium in South Florida and Stephen Ross should be elated. They were a bit of an underdog but the climate and the improved stadium technology was a boon for the Fins.
3:39 p.m. ET -- Los Angeles is OUT for Super Bowl LIV (2020) with it coming down to Tampa and South Florida.
3:34 p.m. ET -- Super Bowl LIII is officially in ATLANTA. The Falcons are getting tons of credit for building a new stadium (which will have a year to mess with), featuring really low concession prices.
Super Bowl 53 is coming to Atlanta in 2019! #SuperBowlATLpic.twitter.com/SPSodegb4n
— MercedesBenzStadium (@MBStadium) May 24, 2016
This also means New Orleans is out for the next five years in terms of Super Bowls, as they only applied to host in 2019 (and not 2020).
3:30 p.m. ET -- Super Bowl LIII is down to either New Orleans or Atlanta.
Most @SuperBowl Games: By Stadium#SBSelection (via @nflnetwork) pic.twitter.com/UBVuI8P5QH
— NFL (@NFL) May 24, 2016
here's a look at a ballot that will be used by the 32 #nfl clubs to vote for Super Bowl LIII pic.twitter.com/s332Xgils3
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) May 24, 2016
First up: 2019 and Super Bowl LIII.