New York’s heavily favored bid to host the 2014 Super Bowl is coming down the stretch.
The Giants and Jets are set to hold a lavish sendoff party this morning at New Meadowlands Stadium for their joint effort to host the big game, a once-unthinkable idea that now appears set to become reality May 25 at the NFL’s spring meeting in Dallas.
That’s when the owners plan to vote between New York, Tampa and South Florida on their choice for the site of Super Bowl XLVIII.
Despite the possibility of snow and brutal February temperatures at their new 82,000-seat outdoor stadium, the Giants and Jets still are considered the big favorites to land the game based on public comments from several owners and continued indications from league brass.
The bid got a huge boost earlier this year when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell endorsed the idea of holding an outdoor Super Bowl in the New York area, and then it became the leading candidate in late February when Arizona dropped out of the running because of the economy.
Tampa is considered a distant second choice in the 2014 race because it just hosted the Super Bowl in February 2009. League sources say South Florida — site of last season’s big game — has all but fallen off the map because the Dolphins failed to land funds for needed renovations to Sun Life Stadium.
A straw poll of owners and owner representatives from 15 teams conducted by The Post at the recent NFL annual meetings in Orlando, showed that 10 planned to vote for New York, three were undecided and just two were opposed — despite chances of a blizzard dampening pro football’s showcase event.
The lopsided feel of the race for 2014 is one reason why there figures to be no shortage of smiling, confident faces at today’s Giants-Jets media gathering, which will include appearances by quarterbacks Eli Manning and Mark Sanchez, ex-Giant Ottis Anderson and former Jet Curtis Martin.
The owners of both teams are meeting to sign the official bid book before sending it off to NFL headquarters. The revised book reflects alterations made by the two teams after the initial bid was turned in April 1.
According to officials, the bid cost the Giants and Jets a combined $1 million. The next three Super Bowls are set for Arlington, Texas; Indianapolis and New Orleans.