The NFL is changing the way it handles the Super Bowl bidding process and as a result, the next two Super Bowls up for grabs are going to go, in all likelihood, to Arizona and New Orleans, respectively.
According to Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal, the league is prepared to hand Super Bowl LVII (in February of 2023) to Arizona and Super Bowl LVIII (February 2024) to New Orleans.
These decisions will be the first in the new process for awarding a Super Bowl, with the NFL doing away with the previous bidding process that featured multiple candidates presenting a plan for the Super Bowl. Instead, New Orleans' contingent will be the sole presenter, as Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports, on Wednesday, hoping to secure a "yes" vote from a majority of the 31 other owners at the NFL meetings in Atlanta.
Arizona and the greater Phoenix area will be presenting something similar to the league.
It might seem obvious, but the expectation is these two cities will secure the berths. These are not cities breaking new ground here, with New Orleans set to host its 11th Super Bowl should it net the victory. It will be the fourth Super Bowl for Arizona.
The old process would whittle down cities to a list of finalists before the league awarded the Super Bowl to one city. Losers from the process would be eligible for the next Super Bowl, but there was plenty of heartbreak for the people involved if they didn't win. New Orleans, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, was unwilling to compete in a battle against any city sporting a new stadium after losing out to the Vikings for the most recent Super Bowl hosting duties.
The NFL typically tries to have the next five years locked down at almost any given time. Back in the 2016 offseason, it was booked through the 2021 Super Bowl in Los Angeles. Last offseason, the NFL slid Tampa, one of the previous finalists for hosting, into the mix after a delay in construction of the Rams/Chargers new stadium in Los Angeles created an issue with hosting Super Bowl LV. Now the NFL has secured its Super Bowl locations through the 2023 season.
Now it looks like our next six Super Bowl locations will be:
Super Bowl LIII (Feb. 3, 2019) -- Atlanta
Super Bowl LIV (Feb. 2, 2020) -- South Florida
Super Bowl LV (Feb. 7, 2021) -- Tampa, Florida
Super Bowl LVI (Feb. 6, 2022) -- Los Angeles
Super Bowl LVII (TBD, 2023) -- Arizona
Super Bowl LVIII (TBD, 2024) -- New Orleans
That is an excellent lineup for the next six years. Atlanta is going to be NEW and will apparently have everything within a short walking distance (always a plus). Florida is fun in February. Los Angeles will be the league's showcase. Arizona and New Orleans are standbys but just excellent places to host the Super Bowl.
