Super Bowl In LA Delayed Until 2022
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) – Super Bowl LV, originally scheduled to be played in February 2021 at the new home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers in Inglewood, has been moved to Florida.
The NFL owners voted unanimously Tuesday to move Super Bowl LV to Tampa, home of the Buccaneers, NFL.com reported. In exchange, Los Angeles Stadium will host Super Bowl LVI in 2022 instead.
The decision comes after it was announced last week that the Rams were pushing back the opening of their new stadium by a year, from the 2019 to 2020 season, due to unusually heavy rains that had delayed construction.
The Rams released a statement Tuesday that read, in part:
"In the past week, we have worked with the NFL on the resolution that was presented today and are supportive of the NFL Owners' decision to play Super Bowl LV in Tampa and to have Los Angeles host Super Bowl LVI in 2022. Over the next 90 days, we will continue to work with our partners across the Los Angeles region, including the Chargers, to deliver the elements promised in the bid that was approved last year."
Under league guidelines, a stadium must be open for two full seasons before it can host a Super Bowl. This would allow Los Angeles Stadium to meet that threshold. Los Angeles has until Aug. 25 to meet specific conditions in order to "solidify their requirements" to host in 2022, according to the NFL Network's Ian Rapaport.
The 70,000-seat Los Angeles Stadium, located on the site of the former Hollywood Park Racetrack, will not open until 2020 after "rain fell during the mass excavation period of construction when no other work could proceed in wet conditions," according to a statement issued by the Rams.
"It's disappointing we have to come out and say we've got to push the stadium back a year," Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff told CBS2 last week. "But Stan's vision is a transformative project in Inglewood… it has to be perfect. From day one, it has to be the best sports and entertainment district in the world. Because of the rain, when we looked at our timetable, to open up the stadium in 2019, just wouldn't fulfill Stan's vision."
The delay means the Rams will continue playing at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Chargers will remain at the StubHub Center in Carson through the 2019 NFL season.
