CITY HALL — Mayor Rahm Emanuel continues to lobby NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for a chance to bring the Super Bowl to Soldier Field.
News that the two had discussed the possibility first broke a year ago. Yet Goodell let slip this week that he had talked with Emanuel about formally adding Soldier Field to the list of potential host cities for the National Football League's championship game.
"The mayor and Roger Goodell spoke last week on a number of matters. They speak or see one another on occasion," confirmed Emanuel spokesman Tom Alexander. "The mayor spoke with the commissioner about several things that would allow Chicago and the NFL to expand their already wonderful relationship. Chicago is a great sports town and a great football town, and the mayor wants to build on these strengths."
As Goodell has said before, much depends on how next year's Super Bowl XLVIII is received at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Like Soldier Field, it's an open-air stadium in a seasonal climate, not typically conducive to the NFL's annual championship gala, which usually takes place in February in warmer cities like Miami, Los Angeles or New Orleans.
Goodell has said the Jersey event will have "warming huts" and electric warming devices at seats, saying, "I expect it to be cold, and we're going to embrace that."
