Call it the 2014 Super Bowl minus XLVII

The NFL made a bold move for a memorable championship by setting up the first winter weather Super Bowl in New York.

Never has the league chosen to hold its showpiece event in a place where players and fans could be freezing at kick-off.

IRVING, Texas // Steam coming from the quarterback's mouth, the Statue of Liberty in the distance, the NFL championship at stake.Live, from the new Meadowlands Stadium, it's Super Bowl 2014. The NFL owners voted on Tuesday for a title game that could be like no other. While there have been sub-4.5°C temperatures for an outdoor Super Bowl, and it has snowed outside a domed stadium on game day, never has the league chosen to hold its showpiece event in a place where players and fans could be freezing at kick-off. They decided it was worth the risk to bring the Super Bowl to the New York area, and to the new $US1.6 billion (Dh5.87bn) stadium that this season will become home to the New York Jets and Giants. "We promise the greatest game in the greatest venue in the greatest city," Steve Tisch, the Giants co-owner, said. "Now we've got to deliver." The NFL required an average temperature of 10°C or a dome for a team to even bid to host the Super Bowl, but the league bent the rule to let New York try.

"Everyone knows it's risky," said Stephen Ross, the Miami Dolphins owner, whose bid was rejected along with Tampa's. "We'll all pray that it doesn't snow that day," said Michael Bidwill, the Arizona Cardinals president. The coldest kick-off temperature in Super Bowl history was 4°C, and that would be considered a warm February day in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The average February temperatures there are 0°C, with several inches of rain, according to the bid documents. Remember, the game kicks off after sundown in the Eastern time zone, so temperatures would be dropping throughout the night. So, why take the chance? "I do believe that New York is a unique market and the membership recognised that," said Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner. "I think it will turn out to be a great event."

Being just outside the Big Apple means lots of glitz and spectacle. The build up will include everything from a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade to parties at internationally renowned destinations. There will be game-day shots of the Manhattan skyline in the distance, and thousands watching on the jumbo-screen televisions in Times Square. The flip side is that security will become a bigger issue. Planners are already making the most of the weather. They are plotting to give out hand warmers and heated seat cushions - and will be selling plenty more NFL-branded merchandise to help fight off the elements. They will also have hundreds of people ready to shovel away snow, and anything else necessary to make the experience more than bearable. The team owners were asked where they would sit - indoors or out? "Probably both," said Woody Johnson, the Jets owner.

The vote on Tuesday had been widely considered a formality, but it did not play out that way. Even after the elimination of Miami, it took two more rounds for New York to get the nod over Tampa. It is billed as a one-time exception, but just a few years ago, the NHL experimented with an outdoor game on New Year's Day, and it came off so perfectly that teams now fight to host what has become the annual Winter Classic. Maybe this will work out that well, too. The weather worries could even add to the hype. In addition to predicting which teams will play, fans can guess how nasty it might be.

"We've played some [frigid, wet December] games there and I know first-hand that the fans had great experiences even though it was in inclement weather," said Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner. Players are split on the decision. In the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room, Byron Leftwich, the quarterback, said the weather does not matter "because it's the Super Bowl ... and you're not going to let 15 degrees [Fahrenheit], change anything." But James Farrior, a linebacker, countered, "I play enough games in the cold." Giants and Jets players are thrilled. "There's something special about this city, man," Darrelle Revis , the Jets cornerback, said following a rally in Times Square. The upcoming Super Bowl, in February 2011, will be at Cowboys Stadium, followed by the new domed stadium in Indianapolis in 2012 and a 2013 return to the Superdome in New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina ripped off part of the roof. The 2014 game will be held on February 2, 9 or 16, depending on how the schedule is set up. * AP

29 Temperature for warmest Super Bowl, in 1973 at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. 10 Average temperature the NFL requires for a team without a dome to host the game. 0 The average temperature at the Meadowlands during the month of February. 4 Temperature for the coldest Super Bowl, in 1972 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. -22 Temperature for the AFC championship game in 1982; the wind chill was -50. -25 Temperature for the Ice Bowl, the 1967 NFL title game.