The NFL is adding a 50-by-100-foot LED message board inside U.S. Bank Stadium for Super Bowl LII because temporary signage "won't stick to the outside of the stadium" due to cold temperatures in Minneapolis, according to NFL Network's Randy Moss. The exterior of stadiums hosting Super Bowls typically "are adorned ... with all sorts of league and corporate banners and signage." Meanwhile, shortly after last week's Vikings-Saints NFC divisional round game, NFL crews "were pulling up the end zones, the artificial turf, to begin their field prep" for the Super Bowl. The league would have liked to begin preparations on Jan. 2, and an NFL official said that the delay "was uncharted territory, but they had back-up plans ready just in case" ("NFL GameDay Morning," NFL Network, 1/21).
YOU ARE LOOKING LIVE: NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero noted Super Bowl Live opens on Friday at the Nicolett Mall, and it will "provide quite the taste of the bold north." Among the attractions are the 198-foot American Birkebeiner Int'l Bridge "temporarily relocated here from Hayward, Wisconsin, where it’s an iconic part of America’s largest cross-country ski race every year." Organizers yesterday began "hauling in 65 truckloads of snow that’ll cover, not just the bridge, but between 8th and 10th Streets." There are plans for "demonstrations of skiing, snow tubing (and) dogsledding.” One million people are expected to attend the 10-day festival (“NFL GameDay Morning,” NFL Network, 1/21).
