Super Bowl XLII will be the 42nd Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) between the National Football Conference (NFC) and American Football Conference (AFC) champions. The game is scheduled to be played following the 2007 regular season on February 3, 2008 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. This will be the second time that the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area will host a Super Bowl game; Super Bowl XXX in January 1996 was played in Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium..
HOST SELECTION PROCESS
The league contemplated the idea of holding Super Bowl XLII in either New York City or Washington, D.C. as a symbol of the recovery from the September 11, 2001 attacks. However, New York City was not even considered as a finalist for the following two reasons:
- The proposed renovations to Giants Stadium were still being disputed among its stadium representatives.
- At the time, New York City and the New York Jets still had not finalized a plan to build the new West Side Stadium (Ultimately, the deal fell through).
When NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XLII to Glendale during their October 30, 2003 meeting in Chicago, Illinois, they rejected Washington because they preferred a warmer climate.
During a February 6, 2007 ceremony with Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, the NFL and the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee unveiled the slogan "Who Wants It More?" along with its mascot "Spike the Super Ball" (an anthropomorphized football with sunglasses and sneakers) and a large "Super Bowl XLII Countdown Clock" at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The Super Bowl XLII logo was also unveiled, featuring the shape of the state of Arizona in red. The two horizontal white stripes in the middle represent the vertical lines on the University of Phoenix Stadium. The turquoise Roman Numerals represent the Native American culture of Arizona. The red star represents the AFC and the blue star represents the NFC.
Entertainment
Tom Petty may be the official Super Bowl halftime performer, but the week leading up to the big game will feature plenty of other performers _ and Ludacris will be among them.
The 30-year-old rapper has been selected to perform at ESPN The Magazine's Next party Feb. 1, which will highlight future trends in sports, technology and lifestyle.
Venue
This will be the second Super Bowl played in a retractable-roof stadium. During the regular season, the home team decides 90 minutes before kickoff if the roof would be open or closed, and an open roof must remain open unless weather conditions get worse. However, as a neutral site, the NFL controls the option to open or close without any restrictions. The first time this was employed in Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium; the roof was open for pregame and halftime shows and closed during the game.
