A pregame tailgate party will fill a parking lot outside a racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J. But “Taste of the Super Bowl,” a glittery event with celebrity chefs from across the country, will take place in New York.
The Super Bowl, the premier sporting event in the country, is coming to the New York City region for the first time, and organizers are enthusiastically promoting it as an event being staged in two states.
But while the global spotlight will shine for several hours on Feb. 2 on MetLife Stadium when the game is actually played, almost all of the marquee events that make the Super Bowl a magnet for celebrities, executives and others with big wallets are happening across the Hudson River, in the city.
It looks as though New Jersey could be left in the shadows of its next-door neighbor — again. Even the mayor of the town where the game will be played expects New York to get top billing.
“Where are the N.F.L. offices? The Fox network offices?” asked the mayor, James L. Cassella of East Rutherford, referring to the network that will broadcast the game. “They’re in New York City. Therefore, where do you think the emphasis is going to be, much to the dismay of those of us in New Jersey?
“Do I think it’s right? But that’s what they’re going to do.”
With preparations building, the game threatens to rekindle the long-running feud between New York and New Jersey. That rivalry goes back to colonial times and has put officials at odds over everything from tunnels under the Hudson River to office complexes and the jobs that would come with them.
For the Super Bowl, New Jersey desperately craves attention. It dreams of the dollars that Super Bowl fans will spend. It dreams of not having to manufacture the appeal that comes naturally to New York, where there will be velvet ropes, party after party and mile-long guest lists. New Jersey dreams of the respect it never seems to get.
So towns near the $ 1.6 billion stadium, the home of the New York Giants and the New York Jets, are scheduling their own celebrations, though maybe not with boldface names and V.I.P. receptions or the official imprimatur of the National Football League. Secaucus, a few miles from the 50-yard line, is planning a beer garden. Nutley is raffling off a three-year lease on a car. And an image-conscious regional chamber of commerce and Bergen Community College are giving one-day classes to teach ways to give Super Bowl fans a warm welcome.
But the classes were canceled after no one signed up — now the instructors are going directly to companies in northern New Jersey, to reach employees at work during the business day — and some town officials say that potential sponsors have been reluctant to commit to Super Bowl events. “We’ve had to dial back a lot,” said Rich McMahon, a councilman in Montclair, N.J., “and the reason we’ve had to dial back a lot is sponsors, the lack of them.”
N.F.L. officials estimate the Super Bowl will generate $ 500 million to $ 600 million in revenue and draw 500,000 visitors — some 417,434 more than MetLife Stadium can hold. Alfred F. Kelly Jr., the chief executive of the bistate committee coordinating the Super Bowl with the N.F.L., estimated that two-thirds to three-fourths of the people who attend the Super Bowl will stay in Manhattan, largely because that is where the most hotel rooms are.
And the stadium? It is six miles from the Hudson River, on the New Jersey side, but Laurence M. McCarthy, a professor of sports management at Seton Hall University, said there was a reason television coverage of games at MetLife Stadium almost always feature images of the Manhattan skyline.
“The shining star is New York,” he said. “The celebrations are going to be there, and it’s the attraction for the traveler who’ll be told, ‘Oh, by the way, we happen to be going across the river to play the game.’ I think New Jersey is going to be very much overshadowed.”
Yahoo Local News – New York Times
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