A data-first look at why Super Bowl hosts cluster in a small set of metros: stadium risk, weather, and broadcast logistics.
The Super Bowl isn't scheduled as a home game. It's staged years in advance, negotiated like a convention, and optimized as much for television as for football.
When you map host metros over time, a clear pattern appears. The geography of the Super Bowl tells a story about stadium design, weather risk, and broadcast logistics.
Looking at yearly host announcements makes each Super Bowl feel like a one-off. A map flips that perspective. Hosts cluster by region and repeat across decades.
The NFL typically awards Super Bowls several years in advance, so selection has little to do with the teams that eventually play. It's about certainty.
That certainty shows up as:
Through 59 Super Bowls, a small set of metros has hosted repeatedly while most of the country has never hosted at all. That concentration reflects how the league minimizes risk for its biggest event.
11
11
8
5
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
The San Francisco Bay Area has hosted 2 Super Bowls through 2025, and is scheduled for #3 next week at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
Once a metro proves it can handle the logistics, the NFL has every incentive to return. Hosting the Super Bowl is less like hosting a game and more like producing a live national broadcast with a football component.
33.3%
80.0%
60.0%
70.0%
90.0%
70.0%
83.3%
Early Super Bowls followed a familiar formula: neutral sites, large stadiums, and places people already wanted to visit. Capacity and tourism mattered more than geographic balance.
A roof does not just protect the field. It protects the schedule. By reducing weather risk, domes made February hosting viable in places that would otherwise be too unpredictable.
By the 2000s, new and renovated stadiums became major drivers of host selection. The "host city" increasingly functioned as shorthand for a region: airport capacity, hotel inventory, convention space, and security planning all matter as much as the stadium itself.
The Super Bowl is played in February, and that constraint shows up in the host list. Most host metros either offer warm climates or indoor stadiums.
This is not about comfort alone. Super Bowl week includes outdoor events, live broadcasts, sponsor activations, and tightly scheduled logistics. Weather is part of the venue decision, not an afterthought.
Kickoff time is anchored to national prime time, and that shapes what hosting works. Every host metro must support a week of programming that runs on a national clock, not a local one.
The result is a subtle gravity toward regions that can stage a massive, predictable broadcast event with minimal risk.
What city do you think gets added next?