Roger Goodell, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel discuss possibility of Super Bowl in Windy City

Roger Goodell met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday to discuss the possibility of Chicago hosting the Super Bowl. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed Thursday that he met with Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to discuss bringing the Super Bowl to Chicago, Ill., according to WLS Chicago.

WLS said that Goodell told the mayor that if the Super Bowl in New York in 2014  is a success, then Chicago could also be a host:

“We did speak about this earlier.  We are, as you know, hosting a Super Bowl in New York in an open-air stadium in 2014.  And we’re excited about that!  We think it’s gonna be a great thing for our fans and a great thing for New York.  And I think if we can do it successfully there, I think that opens up doors that we’ll all be looking at.”

WLS also reported that "Emanuel said he is willing to wait, but noted that after Chicago successfully hosted world leaders at the recent NATO Summit, it deserves to be the stage for the NFL's biggest showcase."

Soldier Field in Chicago currenly seats 65,00 people and Emanuel wouldn't confirm whether he'd be willing to expand the stadium if that's what it took to bring the Super Bowl to Chicago. Phoenix will host the big game in 2015 and there is currently no host slated for the 2016 Super Bowl.