INGLEWOOD, California (CBSDFW.COM/AP) With the Super Bowl just a month away, preparations are in full swing to return to the NFL’s leading event to the place where it all started.
And both NFL officials and local organizers say the championship game is not leaving the Los Angeles area.
The NFL has no plans to relocate the Super Bowl to Arlington, Texas or elsewhere despite the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and the accompanying health measures in California, several officials confirmed Thursday, Jan. 13, at SoFi Stadium during a media event . held to mark a month before the 56th edition of the Super Bowl on February 13th.
“All of our plans for Super Bowl week remain fully in place for a month from today,” said Katie Keenan, NFL’s senior director of event management. “We work with everyone here, with the LA County Health Department, to make sure all of our events are held safely.”
The first Super Bowl was held at the Coliseum in downtown Los Angeles in January 1967.
The 56th edition will be held for the first time at Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s 2-year-old stadium, which opened in the summer of 2020 just south of Los Angeles with a unique indoor-outdoor design that includes both a transparent roof and significant airflow from the open ends over the low-hanging bowl.
The interior of SoFi Stadium is seen after a rock event on September 8, 2020 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Rich Fury / Getty Images for Hollywood Park Management Company)
There was some excitement in North Texas earlier this month as the NFL explored the possibility of using the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium as a backup spot for the Super Bowl, apparently in case the coronavirus rules in California should prevent the league from holding a Super Bowl here.
The NFL then confirmed that it finds backup pages for the Super Bowl every year, and it had no serious concerns about its ability to keep the game in Inglewood.
Several California universities have severely restricted admission to indoor sporting events in January following a series of coronavirus-related exposures.
But those decisions were made by the universities rather than by the state mandate, and Southern California’s professional sports team has not followed suit, with the Rams and Chargers welcoming full houses in January.
Kevin Demoff, the Rams’ operations officer, noted that SoFi has had comprehensive coronavirus security protocols in place for all 17 regular-season games played at the stadium by the Rams and Chargers.
These precautions are still in place Monday night for the first playoff game in stadium history when the fourth-seeded Rams (12-5) host the Arizona Cardinals (11-6).
“I do not think anyone has ever wavered in being able to play this game here and play it safe,” Demoff said. “We’ve had a great, safe environment all year round. We’m lucky that this is an outdoor facility where the air comes in. We feel this building is very safe. People who come to our games have learned to be safe and we do everything we can to be safe. ”
(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
.
