LA's Super Bowl pushed back a year over stadium delay

By Frank Pingue (Reuters) - NFL owners voted unanimously on Tuesday to relocate the 2021 Super Bowl to Tampa, Florida, from Los Angeles given delays with a new stadium that will now host the league's championship game in 2022. The Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers now have until Aug. 25 to prove their respective facilities are on track to host the Super Bowl, which is the most watched television event of the year in the United States. The vote by league owners came after it was revealed that record-setting rainfall in Los Angeles forced the Rams and Chargers to push back the opening date of their joint stadium project by a year to 2020. "In the past week, we have worked with the NFL on the resolution that was presented today and are supportive of the NFL Owners' decision to play Super Bowl LV in Tampa and to have Los Angeles host Super Bowl LVI in 2022," Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff said in a statement. "Over the next 90 days, we will continue to work with our partners across the Los Angeles region, including the Chargers, to deliver the elements promised in the bid that was approved last year." Los Angeles, which is currently vying with Paris to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, was selected last year as host of the 2021 Super Bowl but the NFL requires a stadium to be open for two seasons before it can host the game. The Los Angeles metropolitan area has hosted seven Super Bowls but none since 1993. Tampa has hosted four Super Bowls, the last coming in 2009. "The Tampa Bay area has enjoyed great success over the years hosting Super Bowls and we look forward to working with our local leaders in the coming months to meet the requirements for hosting Super Bowl LV in 2021," Buccaneers Co-Chairman Bryan Glazer said in a statement. Minneapolis, Atlanta and South Florida will host the next three Super Bowls. (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Larry Fine)