NFL Awards the 2008 Super Bowl to Arizona
October 30, 2003
Arizona was awarded the 2008 Super Bowl by a vote of NFL owners Thursday.
The Phoenix area beat out Tampa and Washington, D.C., and will host its second Super Bowl. The 1996 game was played in Tempe, Ariz., where Dallas beat Pittsburgh.
The 2008 game will be played in a new stadium in Glendale, Ariz., currently under construction.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue had championed a proposal to hold the 2008 game in either Washington or the New York area. But the New Jersey Meadowlands could not put together a satisfactory bid in time, and the owners preferred a warmer climate by choosing Arizona.
The Meadowlands plans to bid for the 2009 game. No outdoor Super Bowl ever has been held in a cold-weather city.