North Texas Committee Already Looking Ahead To Bidding For Super Bowl L

North Texas is "bidding for Super Bowl L" in '16, meaning before the region "even sees its first Super Bowl played at Cowboys Stadium, it is planning for its second," according to Charean Williams of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. NFL Senior VP/Events Frank Supovitz has said that he "expects Arlington to win another bid." Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones: "My feeling is that we're going to have done such a great job where it counts, and that's making people feel good. That is going to be as big and as impactful as the stadium itself. But from the standpoint of the numbers, the standpoint of what it means to the NFL financially, it should be the best ever. Any future application will reflect that." Williams noted the NFL is "expected to send out bid specifications for Super Bowl XLIX this spring, with Super Bowl L to follow sometime thereafter" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/31).

HIGH PRICE TO HOST: In Dallas, Gary Jacobson reported the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee "will spend nearly $10 million -- one-quarter of its $40 million in anticipated expenses -- to cover the admissions tax on game tickets, in effect allowing the NFL to keep money that would otherwise pay the tax." Host committee President & CEO Bill Lively said that the "reimbursement to the league is the committee's largest expense." By contrast, when Houston hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII in '04, the reimbursed admissions tax totaled "only about $150,000" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/31).

WIND BOWL? In Chicago, David Haugh wrote under the header, "Super Bowl: Why Not In Chicago?" Haugh: "The league and the NFL owners who vote on such things easily could sell the idea of awarding the event to the NFL's second-largest market that's the home of a charter franchise." Soldier Field "currently is 8,500 seats shy of the 70,000-seat minimum the league requires for Super Bowl stadiums," and its size "looms as the trickiest potential impediment." With owners "making an exception because of Chicago's market strength a pipe dream, the question comes down to how feasible it would be to add nearly 10,000 seats to the NFL's smallest stadium." Haugh: "Structural issues aside, Step 1 of any stadium changes should involve replacing Soldier Field's natural grass with a safe, synthetic playing surface. Step 2 would be ensuring the NFL remains open to the concept of a cold-weather city and stadium." Bears Senior Dir of Corporate Communications Scott Hagel said the Bears "would be open to the idea" of hosting a Super Bowl. But he said that the franchise "recognizes the unknowns surrounding the seating question and weather issues" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/30).