Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie said landing a future Super Bowl "wasn't the intention" behind the team's planned $125M in upgrades to Lincoln Financial Field, according to Zach Berman of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. But Lurie added, "Certainly when I'm on the Super Bowl committee, when you're bidding on a Super Bowl, the committee looks very closely at your stadium and your city and what you can host. Philadelphia would be a great place." Berman writes Lurie "has a point about the stadium." The Dolphins' bid to host Super Bowl L in '16 was "thwarted when organizers could not raise the funds to improve their stadium." But the Eagles' case is different "considering that Lincoln Financial Field is a newer facility than Sun Life Stadium and that the renovations are privately financed." Meanwhile, Lurie said of the upcoming Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium, "We're going to watch that very closely. I'm sure we've all been in phenomenal football games outside in December and January. We're going to root for a decent-weather day in New York and New Jersey. We think we've got a great city here to host it, and a great stadium, and I'm sure others feel the same way" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/18). ESPN.com's Dan Graziano wrote of a potential Philadelphia Super Bowl, "Maybe it's not the intention, but surely it's a potential byproduct that has crossed Lurie's mind." The NFL insisted that a cold-weather Super Bowl this coming season "was a one-time deal and special because of New York." But the league "says a lot of things that aren't true, and they've made it clear that the stadium is the biggest factor in a city getting the game" (ESPN.com, 6/18).
