Kraft wants to bring the Super Bowl to New England

[Wolfpack]

It would upset the media people who cover the game, they would spend two weeks crying about the cold weather. They should play the Super Bowl in Las Vegas some year.

Well considering the NFL doesn't even allow vegas.com to advertise during the Super Bowl, I can't say I see that happening anytime soon.

 

[patsfanboy]

Well, i can't recall Snow in the SB before.

 

[PatsFan24]

Well considering the NFL doesn't even allow vegas.com to advertise during the Super Bowl, I can't say I see that happening anytime soon.

Seriously? I never knew that. I guess they are really uptight about gambling on the games. Anyone got Coast to Coast on tonight? They are doing a segment on fixed sporting events.

 

[Water Boy]

Kurt, you seriously aren't aware that Rush called the Patriots Communists for coming out as a team? It's not political to point out that Rush Limbaugh thinks the Patriots are Communists. It's a fact!!

I guess I missed that quote. Rush says a lot of tongue in cheek stuff to tweak the media.

Plus, you misunderstood what I meant by wrong road (my fault I wasn't clear). I didn't mean politics was the wrong road, I meant the interpretation of global warming. They don't call it "Local Warming" do they?

Nothing personal. In the past, I've been reprimanded by the mods for the mere mention of global warming so I'm a little touchy.

 

[Triumph]

Driving time to Foxboro in the middle of the night in June is <40 minutes. Drive time to Gillette during the week or on game day let alone in inclement weather is exponentially greater because of the limited access via Route 1. And any travel in the greater Boston area during what for the rest of us is a normal work week is a nightmare scenario under the best of circumstances and not remotely like traveling around Scottsdale-Tempe-Glendale which as I recall in itself was an issue the media harped on incessantly that week.

Since I live out of state I havent been to a Pats home game in 30 years. Do they make RTE 1 one way for Pats games? What about HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes on 95?

Since tailgating is not allowed at the SB, satellite parking lots bringing fans in by bus is another option. The SB is a different breed of cat and Im sure they would figure it out if Kraft gets his wish.

Folks venture out the stadium during the week for the NFL exprience and what not, but its not like a mad rush on game day as they arrive and leave at all hours. There shouldnt be any problem handling that crowd.

Not to mention the stadium only holds 68K. Most of the new and domed facilities hold 80-100K.

If Gillette has 12k to 32k less seats wouldnt that be a good thing in terms of traffic and crowd?

Businesses in Dallas who geared up for this event are going to be devastated when all is said and done. And that was due to a freak weather event that happens there once in a blue moon... Events like that aren't freaks here, they are the norm. Hell, here they are considered minor seasonal inconveniences.

Which means that they are equipped to handle snow and bad weather in the first place. One would expect extra manpower and equipment for the biggest game of the year.

Im sure Bob Kraft would gladly open his stadium doors early so fans can start buying his $20.00 cups of Bud Light and $12.00 hot dogs.

This week there are parking bans in force throughout the area because feet of snow over the last couple of weeks have overwhelmed public works departments. Even mass transit has been impacted. Not to mention the airports. New York/Jersey has the potential to be a debaucle, Foxboro/Boston/Providence has the potential to be a natural disaster. Detroit was a miserable pain in the ass, as Indy may be, but at least they had domes going for them if you can get there or get into them, as does Dallas.

Boston/Providence/Foxboro in February is a destination sane folks long to get away from, not flock to.

If its too cold, some Folks will be spending lots time in the bars, restaurants, museums, the aquarium and so forth, around Boston. It amounts to a lot of money changing hands if you ask me.

 

[Wolfpack]

Seriously? I never knew that. I guess they are really uptight about gambling on the games. Anyone got Coast to Coast on tonight? They are doing a segment on fixed sporting events.

I remember it happening one year that vegas.com wanted to buy a Super Bowl ad and the league told the network "no way." I don't know if that's still league policy or if it applies to regular season games, but yeah they definitely don't want to be associated with Vegas or gambling in any way - which is pretty ironic because no sport has benefitted more from gambling than the NFL has.

 

[Wolfpack]

Since I live out of state I havent been to a Pats home game in 30 years. Do they make RTE 1 one way for Pats games? What about HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes on 95?

It's not one way on gameday, but they do set traffic cones so that there are 3 lanes in and only one lane out before the game, then 3 lanes out and one lane in after. And IIRC, close to the stadium you generally won't be allowed to make a left turn onto Rte 1 where you have to cross the 3 lanes.

As for HOV lanes... Do they even have those in Massachusetts? The only one I know of is when you are north of the city travelling on I-93 south, there's a little HOV lane on the left side just as you hit the lower deck. And absolutely nobody bothers to obey the rules regarding it.

Since tailgating is not allowed at the SB, satellite parking lots bringing fans in by bus is another option. The SB is a different breed of cat and Im sure they would figure it out if Kraft gets his wish.

I doubt they would even allow stadium parking if Gillette ever hosted a Super Bowl. It would be all satellite parking. (EDIT: Well, the luxury seat holders would be able to go straight to the game. But us common folk wouldn't).

If Gillette has 12k to 32k less seats wouldnt that be a good thing in terms of traffic and crowd?

I can't answer that since I simply don't know what the setup is like in Arlington or Glendale, but it seems to me that there is so much more open space surrounding those facilities. Multiple roads to and from the stadium and multiple lots all over the place.

 

[Ron Sellers]

I'd bet that in this case the truth, as so often happens, in somewhere in between. $400 million may be an exaggeration, but I think $40 million is a bit too low. Even if you assume 50,000 people descend on the area (and that's a ridiclously conservative estimate - I am sure the actual numbers are higher) then that comes out to $800 per person.

I just don't see any expenses incurred by the government that make this prohibitive. You mentioned security. Well, an awful lot of those policemen you see at ball games are bought and paid for by the team, not the city or state.

True for a regular season game, but not for a Super Bowl. At the SB that's part of the expense of the city/regional tourist committee.

And discounted hotel rooms? Whuh-huh? Try booking a hotel room in Indianapolis next February and tell me what kind of "discount" you get.

Re-read what I said. The free or discounted rooms and meals are for the NFL, as part of their negotiations in the bidding for the Super Bowl. That is directly or indirectly paid for by the regional tourism board, mostly via taxes. It has nothing to do with the prices everyone else pays.

Furthermore, you're contradicting your own logic. You're trying to say there is no big impact to a Super Bowl, but you're also saying tht Dallas was "devastated" by the bad weather. Well which is it? If there no great economic boom to a Super Bowl, why would bad weather be so "devastating"?

No contradiction. The locals invest a lot of money on the event, hoping for a return on their investment. If the revenues do not come in that they were forecasting, that can be a huge problem. The lack of business is bad enough, but it is made much worse if you spent a lot of money when you expected a large volume of sales. In many cases that investment is completely lost; it's not as if those products or services can be sold next week or next month - they're either sold that week or not at all.

 

[upstater1]

I guess I missed that quote. Rush says a lot of tongue in cheek stuff to tweak the media.

It wasn't tongue-in-cheek. It occupied his entire radio show the day after the Rams-Patriots Super Bowl. He was angry that they came out as a team and took away from "the individual."

 

[Triumph]

As for HOV lanes... Do they even have those in Massachusetts? The only one I know of is when you are north of the city travelling on I-93 south, there's a little HOV lane on the left side just as you hit the lower deck. And absolutely nobody bothers to obey the rules regarding it.

I meant on gameday, they could have HOV lanes to encourage people to car pool and for buses.

 

[Triumph]

True for a regular season game, but not for a Super Bowl. At the SB that's part of the expense of the city/regional tourist committee.

The NFL is spending 5 - 6 mil on security for SB45.

NFL spending more than $5 million on Super Bowl security | National Football Post

 

[Triumph]

Miami is being shut out.

Why is the NFL giving South Florida the Super Bowl cold shoulder?

 

[chicowalker]

Miami is being shut out.

Why is the NFL giving South Florida the Super Bowl cold shoulder?

hasn't it been there at least twice in the past decade?

 

[Wolfpack]

True for a regular season game, but not for a Super Bowl. At the SB that's part of the expense of the city/regional tourist committee.

I am sure the league is paying plenty for security.

Re-read what I said. The free or discounted rooms and meals are for the NFL, as part of their negotiations in the bidding for the Super Bowl. That is directly or indirectly paid for by the regional tourism board, mostly via taxes. It has nothing to do with the prices everyone else pays.

If that's what you meant, then I just don't understand the argument. It's reasonable to estimate 100,000 people descend on an area for a Super Bowl. A very, very small amount of them will be officially associated with the league and getting cheap hotel rooms. All the rest of us are paying a couple hundred a night (PPDO) for a single room. The owner of The End Zone on Route 1 will be able to buy himself a mansion on those profits alone.

No contradiction. The locals invest a lot of money on the event, hoping for a return on their investment. If the revenues do not come in that they were forecasting, that can be a huge problem. The lack of business is bad enough, but it is made much worse if you spent a lot of money when you expected a large volume of sales. In many cases that investment is completely lost; it's not as if those products or services can be sold next week or next month - they're either sold that week or not at all.

I don't see how you don't consider that a contradiction to your earlier posts. You admit the locals invested a lot of money in the event, hoping for a return on that investment. You admit that they forecasted a big return. How do you reconcile those statements with your earlier claim that there just isn't a significant economic impact for a Super Bowl city?

You said "I think the whole 'SB is a huge boon to the local economy' is a big lie. It benefits a select few." But then you made the argument that Dallas businesses were "devastated" by this year's poor weather. I just don't see how those statements reconcile.

 

[Wolfpack]

Miami is being shut out.

Why is the NFL giving South Florida the Super Bowl cold shoulder?

They did the exact same thing to New Orleans over the past decade. Once the Superdome improvements were announced, the gave the next Super Bowl they announced to N.O., who is going to have an 11 year layoff between games, by far the longest ever for them.

 

[EJ Blitz]

Damn I would love for that to happen, the Superbowl right next to me. I don't think Gillette is the ideal stadium for a SB though.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Yeah, whereas it's taken a freak winter in Dallas for it to affect the game...our NORMAL winter here in New England would wreck the hell out of any scheduled events for the millionaires who come to the Super Bowl.