The city of Atlanta is bidding for the 2019, 2020 or 2021 Super Bowls Tuesday at the NFL owners meeting in Charlotte, N.C. But how does the whole process actually happen?
A year out from the vote, teams announce their intentions to submit a bid for the Super Bowl, and the NFL will select finalists to be voted on by the NFL owners about a year later.
The finalists have been set for the next trio for Super Bowls to be decided, and it is Tuesday when the owners will vote on the final bids. The finalists are Atlanta, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, Miami and New Orleans.
Each city will make its bid explaining what their city has to offer in front of the league's 32 owners. They also been known to occasionally bribe the owners with gifts to sway their opinion. That part is no secret.
But the actual voting is pretty secretive.
Once all the cities have made their bid, the 32 owners go into a room and shut the door behind them. Those 32 men cast a secret ballot, and someone will tally the votes.
They will award the city that has a majority. It may take more than one round, and they'll eliminate cities as they need to until there finally is a clear winner.
The owners will exit the room, and cheering and emotion-filled faces usually tip off reporters to how the vote went.
But, a formal announcement is made for each Super Bowl, and then the real work begins:
Preparing for the largest sporting event in the country. No pressure.
May 2016 aerial photos of Mercedes-Benz Stadium
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