And Historic 50 Goes TO...

05.22.2013

The last time Northern hosted the NFL's Super Bowl was in 1985 when the defeated the , 38-16, in Super Bowl XIX, played in Stanford . Northern California's next hosting of a Super Bowl has come following another defeat of Miami by San Francisco, only not on the football field.Â

On the first round of voting by NFL owners on Tuesday, Levi's Stadium, now under construction in Santa Clara, about 45 miles south of San Francisco, won the right to host Super Bowl L, to be played in February 2016.Â

Levi's Stadium is scheduled for a 2014 opening as the new home of the 49ers.

Minutes after Super Bowl L was awarded to Levi's Stadium during a meeting in , Reliant Stadium, home to the Houston Texans, was awarded Super Bowl LI, to be played in February 2017. The league said that dates for both games were yet to be determined.

Left out to dry was Sun Life Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins. Despite a strong presentation by the South Florida Super Bowl Committee, which included testimony from Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, it was not awarded a record 11th time as Super Bowl hosts. Earlier this month, the Florida State Legislature failed to pass a motion that would have allowed state voters to decide whether or not to fund a $350 million upgrade to Sun Life Stadium. That proved to be a hurdle too high to overcome.

"We are excited that the [NFL] owners voted for the Bay Area to host ," said Jed York, CEO for the San Francisco 49ers, after the decision was revealed. "It's awesome that they have allowed us to host the golden anniversary in the Golden State."

Barry Janoff is director of sports media marketing initiatives for PromaxBDA. He also is the executive editor for  NYSportsJournalism.com which covers national sports marketing, business and media news; and a contributing writer for Yahoo! and MediaPost.