Posted on: Thursday, October 4, 2001

Super Bowl moved to Feb. 3, stays in New Orleans

Advertiser Staff and News Services

The Super Bowl will be pushed back a week and played Feb. 3 in New Orleans, allowing the NFL to complete its season without altering its playoff format.

The NFL switched its original date of Jan. 27 with the National Association of Automobile Dealers and paid the group $7.5 million to cover the costs of rescheduling its convention.

The need to swap dates was caused when the NFL postponed its second week of games after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

The agreement means that the NFL's regular season will end Jan. 5-6 with the games that should have been played in week two, Sept. 16-17.

The wild-card round will be played Jan. 12-13, the divisional playoffs Jan. 19-20, and the conference championships Jan. 27.

"We deeply appreciate the willingness of Phil Brady and America's new car dealers to work with us," commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. "Thanks to their leadership, our fans and teams can look forward to a full complement of playoffs and to a great Super Bowl weekend in New Orleans."

The switch in dates will force the Pro Bowl, originally scheduled for Feb. 3 at Aloha Stadium, to move. The most likely date will be the following Sunday, Feb. 10.