Boston, MA – The hosts for Super Bowl L and LI were announced Tuesday at the NFL Spring Meeting in Boston.
As expected, San Francisco and Houston were named the host cities for Super Bowl 50 in February 2016 and Super Bowl 51 in February 2017, respectively.
The Super Bowl will return to the Bay Area thanks to the 49ers' future Santa Clara home, recently named Levi's Stadium. The new $1.2 billion stadium is set to open in 2014.
"Even before breaking ground in April of 2012, the vision for Levi's Stadium has always been to build a venue that showcases all that is special about the Bay Area," 49ers CEO Jed York said on the team's website. "Innovation, sustainability and fan experience are the pillars of which we designed and constructed this facility.
"We look forward to NFL fans from around the globe enjoying our region and our stadium, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world."
Candlestick Park, which opened for baseball's San Francisco Giants in 1960, has been the 49ers' home since 1971. It is scheduled for demolition in early 2014 after one final season.
The Bay Area hosted one previous Super Bowl. In 1985, Stanford Stadium was the site of the big game between San Francisco and Miami. The 49ers and Joe Montana pulled out a 38-16 victory over Dan Marino's Dolphins.
Reliant Stadium will be the site of a Super Bowl for the second time. The stadium served as the host facility for Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004.
"I can't tell you how excited I am for Houston in being selected as the site for the 2017 Super Bowl," Texans owner Bob McNair said in a statement. "This is a worldwide stage that will be constructed in Houston and the world will be watching. It's an opportunity to showcase our wonderful city, the NFL and the Super Bowl all at the same time."
Miami, which is tied with New Orleans for most times as Super Bowl host at 10, placed bids on both games, but a lack of public funding for proposed renovations to Sun Life Stadium most likely prevented the big game from returning to South Florida.
"Congratulations to San Francisco and Houston on Super Bowl L and LI," Dolphins owner Steve Ross said in statement. "However, we don't think there's a better place in the country to host Super Bowl than right here in South Florida. I am grateful for the hard work and creative energy that the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee showed in their bid. Today's decision doesn't dampen our enthusiasm to pursue Super Bowls in the future, since we are steadfast in our belief that those games are good for the South Florida community."
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