Jersey City’s Westin and Hyatt tapped to host 2014 Super Bowl teams

Jersey City will host both Super Bowl teams when the game is played in New Jersey for the first time next February.

The NFL confirmed Thursday that the Hyatt Regency and the Westin hotel will house the AFC and NFC teams for the 2014 NFL championship game. Both hotels are on the Hudson River waterfront and are near mass transit that serves northern New Jersey and New York City.

“Both properties fit in with our Super Bowl playbook of providing easy access for media availabilities and proximity to the Giants and Jets practice facilities, media day at the Prudential Center and MetLife Stadium for gameday,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Thursday.

The 2014 Super Bowl will be played Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, which is about eight miles from Jersey City. It will be the first Super Bowl played in a cold-weather stadium without a roof. The NFC team will train at the New York Giants’ training facility adjacent to MetLife Stadium, while the AFC team will train at the New York Jets’ facility in Florham Park, about 15 miles from the stadium.

New York will host other events in the two weeks leading up to the game, including a fan festival that will take over part of Broadway.

Maria Nieves, president of the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, called the hotels selection “a real coup for Hudson County and Jersey City.”

“It highlights how robust the amenities and infrastructure is here,” Nieves said. “It will be a great opportunity for everybody to showcase what a gem we have on this side of the river.”

Super Bowl media day will be held at Newark’s Prudential Center, the first time the event will be held outside the game’s site in the Super Bowl’s history. The Meadowlands Racetrack, next to MetLife Stadium, will host the NFL’s pre-game tailgate party.

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