The National Rainbow Coalition is investigating complaints
in the Phoenix area that African-American businesses are being
"left out of the action" of Super Bowl-related contracts. Norm
Parish reports in the ARIZONA REPUBLIC that Super Bowl Host
Committee officials say about 10% of the $450,000 worth of
contracts through November '95 went to minority firms, with about
half owned by African-Americans. However, Parish reports of the
1,200 AZ firms bidding for contracts, about 25% of them were
minority-owned. Host committee officials say "in some cases ...
minority contractors' bids were too high, and in other cases, the
committee just couldn't find minority-owned businesses for the
work." Martin Samaniego, VP/Business Development for the Host
Committee, said they were aiming for more than 10%, as about 30%
of AZ's population is minority. Only 3% of the state is African-
American, but area black leaders say the small number of minority
contracts "is particularly disturbing" because of the controversy
over the Martin Luther King Day holiday that originally kept the
game out of AZ (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/10).
OTHER SUPER BOWL HAPPENINGS: The game is expected to bring
about $187M to AZ's economy, and is being called a "giant money
tree" by local entrepreneurs. Ken Western reports in the ARIZONA
REPUBLIC that sales of generic Super Bowl shirts including "just
about anything that says Super Bowl and has a cactus, has just
flown out of stores." William Kaverman, President and CEO of
BEI, a Tempe sportswear company, says the response in AZ is far
greater than last year in Miami (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/10)....This
morning's "Super Bowl Ad Watch" in USA TODAY features a profile
of Owens-Corning's 30-second spot that will run during the fourth
quarter. The ad will feature a high-tech animated skit with the
Pink Panther (USA TODAY, 1/11)....In Chicago, George Lazarus
reports that Pepsi-Cola's Deion Sanders Super Bowl ad will
feature animation with Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/11).
