Could Tampa host a Super Bowl in 2023?

The Tampa Bay area hasn't hosted a Super Bowl since 2009, and just missed out on the four Super Bowls handed out between 2018 and 2021. It's anyone's guess as to when the area will get a chance to play host for the biggest football game in the world, and I'm somewhat doubtful they'll get the chance in the foreseeable future.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN doesn't share my pessimism, though. He projected the Super Bowl hosts for 2022 through 2027, and thinks Tampa will get a chance in 2023, after New Orleans hosts one in 2022. It makes some sense: the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders are the only teams likely to get a new stadium over the next couple of years, and those are still a couple of years away, if not farther than that.

Of course, it's not exactly clear why the area should be happy to host a Super Bowl. It's a nice PR boost, but there's not much evidence it does anything for an area's economic prospects.

If the Tampa Bay area gets a Super Bowl in 2023, that'd be 14 years after the last one. A spate of new stadiums and stadium renovations helped keep the area out of contention for so long, while the Bucs kept delaying long-promised stadium upgrades. Those are finally coming this year and the next, though the cost pales in comparison to the cost of a new stadium, or upgrades in many other Super Bowl cities. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may need to spend a little more to get the Super Bowl back in town.