PHOENIX — The Super Bowl is headed back to Sin City, but the exact date of when that’s happening is not clear, and the uncertainty is tied to the NFL’s potential move to an 18-game season.
As expected, the NFL officially awarded Super Bowl LXIII in February 2029 to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium during the league’s annual meetings here this week. The selection marks a quick turnaround for the showcase event in the league’s newest market, as Las Vegas also hosted Super Bowl LVIII in 2024.
That prior game set a series of records, including on the secondary ticket market. Local officials and the host team, Raiders, said they will be looking to stage an even bigger spectacle.
“We can’t wait to run it back,” said Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan.
Calendar Issues
By far the biggest question mark surrounding Super Bowl LXIII, however, is the specific date of the game. There’s not one set yet, nor is there one for Super Bowl LXII in 2028 in Atlanta.
NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly said there are three potential dates being held for each game, and that it’s not unusual for there to be no announced game date yet. But those Super Bowls directly intersect with an ongoing push by the league, and in particular certain owners, to pursue an expanded regular season—and soon.
Moving to an 18-game season has been a hot-button issue around the league for more than a year, and it was a key topic of conversation during the run-up last month to Super Bowl LX. The NFL Players Association has made it clear it has “no appetite” for the additional regular-season game, something continuing with newly elected union executive director JC Tretter.
From the league’s perspective, though, enlarging the schedule would create significant additional revenue and further accelerate the NFL’s already-aggressive international plans. It would also push the Super Bowl deeper into February, as an 18-game season could come with a second bye week for each team.
The next title game, Super Bowl LXI, is set for Feb. 14, 2027.
“Obviously, [there’s] important flexibility, whether that has to do with future schedule changes or otherwise,” O’Reilly said of the lack of a confirmed date for the 2028 and 2029 Super Bowls. “But there’s nothing unique about this moment in time in terms of scheduling. We’ve always had that flexibility going back decades.”
O’Reilly said it’s “rare that you’d get into the season before—so not the season of the Super Bowl, but into that season before—without having that [Super Bowl] date.” So in order to have a firm date for the Atlanta Super Bowl, that means the league could push to advance negotiations with the union on an 18-game season in the coming months.
Once game dates are firmly established, local organizers will be able to move forward with specific plans, including solidifying hotel and meeting space reservations.
