Super Bowl LI XXXVIII in 2004, which also featured the New England Patriots against that season's NFC South champion Carolina Panthers. It was also the third time the Super Bowl has been played in Houston, with Super Bowl VIII in 1974 having been held at Rice Stadium. With the Astros baseball team reaching the World Series eight months later, Houston would become just the fourth city to host both the Super Bowl and Fall Classic in the same calendar year, following San Diego (1998), Detroit (2006) and Arlington, Texas (2011); and the first among the four to win the Major League Baseball championship.
Super Bowl XXXVII its interest. The city was awarded the game during the May 26, 1999 meeting at Atlanta. Miami was the only other city in consideration. It was the last Super Bowl played in California until Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. It was the also the final Super Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium before the Chargers relocated to Los Angeles in 2017. Later in 2003, California would host the Stanley Cup Finals with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hosting games 3, 4, and 6, making it only the second time that the same state hosted both the Super Bowl