Super Bowl XL meetings held in Atlanta, two years before the stadium opened in 2002; the only previous Super Bowl held in the Detroit area, Super Bowl XVI, had been played at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1982 (also between teams from the AFC North and NFC West divisions [the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers, respectively], though the AFC North was called the Central at that time). The NFL promoted this Super Bowl under the slogan "The Road to Forty." The slogan not only honored the 40-year history of the game, but was a nod to Detroit's traditional role as the center of
Super Bowl XXVI This was the first time that a major television network successfully scheduled Super Bowl counterprogramming: Fox aired a special live football-themed episode of its popular sketch comedy show "In Living Color" during the halftime show. NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XXVI to Minneapolis during their May 24, 1989 meeting in New Orleans. Indianapolis, Pontiac and Seattle also made bids for the game. Super Bowl XXVI became the second Super Bowl to be played in a cold, winter climate city. The first one was Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, a suburb