Next month, New Jersey's MetLife Stadium will play host to the Super Bowl. Bringing the NFL's championship game to the Garden State is a big win for Gov. Chris Christie, particularly if he truly is eying a run at the White House in 2016. But one political expert warns of a possible pitfall for Christie as well.

MetLife Stadium exterior
Dave Polaski, Townsquare Media NJ
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"Getting the Super Bowl here to New Jersey was a huge achievement for Chris Christie for two reasons," said Peter Woolley, professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University. "It'll pump a lot of money into the economy and he needs to show that New Jersey really is on an economic comeback, and it'll be free national advertising for Chris Christie. You have a whole week of events here."

The Super Bowl is not just a football game that takes place on one day. It's a national event that takes place over the course of a week, and many of the pregame festivities will take place in New Jersey.

"The downside for Chris Christie is that if anything significant goes wrong, it may actually hurt him," Woolley said. "Not handling inclement weather well, and huge traffic snarls, could be blamed on the governor."

It's not just rare to have the Super Bowl in New Jersey, it's unprecedented, and Christie will get a lot of credit for that. Woolley said it's a boon for the current GOP front-runner for president in 2016.

"This is really part and parcel of a national presidential campaign," said Woolley. "Whether it was meant to be that way originally or not, the fact is, it is."

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