The Vote

The NFL will announce the winning bid for the 2014 Super Bowl this afternoon. Here's how the voting goes.

The owners will take a vote, and if one of the three contenders -- New York, Tampa Bay, and South Florida -- gets 75 percent of the ballots (24 out of 32), that city will win right to host the game. If no one gets 75 percent, another round of voting occurs among all three teams, again with the 75 percent rule.

If a winner still hasn't been determined, the city with the least number of votes is eliminated and a run-off between the two surviving cities takes place. Again, 75 percent is needed to win. If that fails, a fourth ballot is taken, and the team with a simple majority (17 out of 32) wins.

Given the stubbornness of some of the owners against a cold-weather game, it would not be outrageous to think that the voting will go to the fourth ballot before anything is decided. But I'm sticking with my original prediction. One way or another, the new Meadowlands Stadium will host the 2014 Super Bowl. It's high time the NFL started spreading this game around. If the Giants and Jets win this time around, I would certainly not be adverse to awarding the next bid to a place like Cleveland or New England.

EP