Don't eliminate the possibility that Super Bowl XXXVI will be played on Feb. 3 in New Orleans just yet.

Only one day after being apprised that the National Automobile Dealers Association could neither alter the dates nor site for its convention, NFL officials have not abandoned hope that they will be able to convince the group to make a switch, thus enabling the league to maintain a full 12-team playoff format and nudge the Super Bowl back a week.

League sources told ESPN.com on Thursday that, even after their proposal to the NADA was rejected, they don't consider the group's "no" a final one.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue has notified owners of an Oct. 15 deadline for determining the postseason schedule, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported.

David Hyatt, executive director of the NADA, told ESPN.com on Wednesday that his group had "regrettably" informed NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue it could not change the dates of its meetings.

"We would love to be able to accommodate them," said David Hyatt, "but we have a lot of things already in motion. From a logistics standpoint, it just isn't possible. We did very seriously consider their request, and deliberated over it a good while, but in the end it just wasn't realistic for us."

On Thursday, the NADA spokesman softened somewhat.

"There are no talks scheduled, we haven't heard from the NFL since the commissioner's letter thanking us for considering it," Hyatt said. "But if the NFL were to consider covering the expenses and losses, we would have to take a second look at it."

The league feels the NADA is fudging the numbers a bit, however, when it contends it has 24,000 members participating in the Feb. 2-5 convention. More important, it believes that public sentiment may influence the automobile dealers, and that the league's offer to cover the expenses of switching the dates is also sufficiently significant to precipitate the NADA's reconsideration of the matter.

It is not certain just how much the NFL will sweeten the pot in an effort to have NADA move its dates. The league, ESPN.com has learned, has so-called "business interruption insurance" that would cover much of, or perhaps even all of, the cost. There seems to be a consensus among owners now that the cost of dealing with NADA will be substantially less than the $60 million-$80 million the league would have to rebate to the networks if the wildcard round of the playoffs is scuttled.

Plus the league reaps much of the revenue generated by playoff games as well.

Several league sources indicated both sides will revisit negotiations next week. The NFL will use owners William Clay Ford of Detroit and New Orleans' Tom Benson, both of whom have strong ties to the automobile industry, to lobby NADA leadership. Benson, who once owned 33 dealerships in the New Orleans and San Antonio metropolitan areas, insisted some NADA members are "flexible" enough to go along with a change.

He called it "critical" that New Orleans maintain its host role for Super Bowl XXXVI, a sentiment echoed by Mayor Marc Morial, who after a conference call with NFL director of special events Jim Steeg on Wednesday, has taken the point position in his city's effort to keep the game. A league official acknowledged to ESPN.com it would be "pretty bad politics" to remove the game from an area as economically impacted as New Orleans.

The city is walking a fine line, however, because the NADA has committed to return to New Orleans about every four years with its convention.

Tagliabue announced Tuesday the league will play its entire 16-game schedule but withheld a decision on the playoffs. It was assumed the playoffs would be pared to an eight-team field, eliminating two wildcard qualifiers from each conference. But the league seems intent now on trying to keep the 12-team field, even if it means delaying the Super Bowl by one week, pushing it from Jan. 27 to Feb. 3.

Late Wednesday, ESPN.com reported that three cities which have combined to host nearly half of the NFL championship games in the past 35 years have emerged as potential alternate sites if the league decides to move the Super Bowl from New Orleans.

Those cities -- Miami, Pasadena and Tampa -- have played host to 17 of 35 Super Bowl games.

Miami has staged eight games, the most recent of which was Super Bowl XXXIII, and two of the last seven title matchups have been played there. Pasadena hasn't had a game since Super Bowl XXVII, but has held five championship contests, and the capacity of the Rose Bowl always translates into additional revenues. Tampa, the site of Super Bowl XXXV last season, has hosted three of the last 11 games, and four overall.

"We are not out trying to benefit at the expense of New Orleans," George Kirkland, president of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the Los Angeles Times. "Every community in America would like to see economic losses mitigated as much as humanly possible. However, if the NFL is unable to reconcile their issues, we're very anxious to let them know that we are the alternative site."

Contrary to published reports, San Diego and Honolulu are not being considered.

Officials in Miami have confirmed there have been preliminary discussions with NFL officials to gauge their interest in hosting the game.

League sources emphasized, though, that the overriding sentiment remains keeping the game in New Orleans and the other cities will be seriously considered only if it is determined that is not possible. One source called New Orleans "options 1 through 10."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.