Miami and San Francisco are the two finalists to host the 50th Super Bowl in NFL history, league commissioner Roger Goodell announced on Tuesday. The site of the game will not be announced until next May, when NFL owners vote on the venue.
If Miami gets picked, Super Bowl L will be the 11th hosted in South Florida, and the sixth at Sun Life Stadium. The Orange Bowl hosted five Super Bowls during the 1960s and 1970s.
Miami last hosted the Super Bowl in 2010, when the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. Only the Superdome in New Orleans has hosted more Super Bowls than Sun Life Stadium, and Miami and New Orleans are tied for the most Super Bowls held in one city with 10 (Tulane Stadium hosted three games in the 1970s, and the 2013 Super Bowl will be held in the Superdome).
The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in America every year, and is credited with bringing millions of dollars to the host city through tourism spending.
One factor that could work against the Miami bid is the fact that the San Francisco 49ers are building a new stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Several owners have said a return to Sun Life Stadium in Miami would require major upgrades to the building, and Goodell said Tuesday that the Dolphins "feel that (renovations) are a large part of their bid."
The team campaigned in 2007 to use local tax money to finance a proposed $225 million renovation of Sun Life Stadium, but little headway has been made in that effort.
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Should San Francisco beat out Miami for the Super Bowl, Miami will become a finalist to host Super Bowl LI in 2017, along with Houston.
