By Ron Johnson
Super Bowl LXI – Welcome back to LA
Almost two years ago, the LA-area got to partake in the spectacle known as the Super Bowl. The Rams, making their fourth appearance, went on to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in franchise history. Yes, it was a momentous occasion for the Rams as they had to wait a few years after their move from St. Louis back to LA to climb the mountaintop once more.
Four years from now, the City of Angels gets to run it back again.
This past Wednesday, NFL membership voted unanimously during the winter meeting to return the grand finale back to Hollywood for the 2026-27 season. After the vote, Rams COO/President Kevin Demoff joked about going to tell head coach Sean McVay and GM Les Snead to start trading away picks so they can another Super Bowl in their home stadium again.
While the game will be played in Allegiant Stadium, home of the Raiders, this year, and the Superdome in New Orleans and Levi Stadium in Santa Clara the following years, LA will look to make this one bigger than the last one. During that Super Bowl, we saw an intense back and forth, capped off by Super Bowl MVP (and in my opinion, the NFL MVP) Cooper Kupp snag the game winning touchdown along with Aaron Donald throwing up his hand and gesturing to his ring finger as the Rams overcame Joe Burrow and the Bengals to win the Lombardi.
SoFi Stadium has suddenly become a major hotspot for sporting events as it hosted the College Football National Championship, an epic matchup between Arsenal and Barcelona and most recently WrestleMania 39 earlier this year. But they are not done yet. Prior to Super Bowl LXI, SoFi will host the Copa America competition in 2024, the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches, and the 2028 Olympics.
By the time we get to 2027, Los Angeles will have hosted nine Super Bowls, with two of them under the SoFi banner. The Coliseum has hosted two, and the Rose Bowl has hosted five. To say the least, SoFi Stadium has to be considered the best venue in football since it has a very busy slate coming up. And with speculation that another XFL franchise could be coming to LA, it could get bigger and better.
But the question will be will the Rams represent the NFC in the 2027 Super Bowl…or will it be someone else?
Only time will tell…
