Future cold weather Super Bowls could happen

NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday increased interest in holding cold weather Super Bowls would lead to the consideration of such a possibility.

At his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference, Goodell took the opportunity to stage manage a brief comedy act for those who came to hear his various announcements.

"All the talk has been about the weather," Goodell said. "Of course, we cannot control the weather."

As he spoke, artificial snow fell on the podium where he stood.

The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos will meet Sunday in the 48th Super Bowl. It will be played outdoors in East Rutherford, N.J., and the temperature will be the coldest ever for the big game.

The most recent forecast for kickoff calls for the temperature to hover around freezing. Although there is a chance of rain and snow Sunday night, the forecast said precipitation would likely not begin to fall until after 3 a.m.

"The forecast is terrific," Goodell said. "It's football ready and, to confirm, we will kick off at 6:30."

The NFL had developed contingency plays that could have resulted in the game being played Friday, Saturday or Monday if a blizzard blew through the area.

"We know there's interest in other (cold weather) communities hosting the Super Bowl," the commissioner said. "We'll review that when we're done. There's such a demand for Super Bowls right now. We see the opportunity to continue to expand our game, come into new markets and we find that valuable to the league.

"I believe we need to get to as many communities as possible. It helps grow our game."

On other matters:

-- Goodell said he thought the league's proposed $765 million concussion settlement would eventually be approved, despite a delay by a federal judge. "The No. 1 thing is to get the money in place to help the players and their families," he said.

-- Adding one team from each conference to the playoffs appears to be gaining steam. "There are lots of benefits to doing that," Goodell said. "We think we can make it more competitive. It will make for more meaningful games later in the season. That's something that attracts us. This will continue to get very serious consideration by the competition committee."