Super Bowl Village Draws More Than 1.1 Million Fans, NFL Experience Sets Attendance Record

More than 1.1 million fans visited Super Bowl Village in downtown Indianapolis, about "double what the host committee originally projected and about 30 percent more than revised projections made Wednesday," according to Schoettle & Schouten of the INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL. The NFL Experience "broke the Super Bowl attendance record set in Arizona in 2008, drawing 265,039 fans" from Jan. 27-Feb. 4. Merchandise sales also "soared more than 25 percent past estimates" (IBJ.com, 2/6). In Indianapolis, David Lindquist noted Friday's scene at the Super Bowl Village was "dangerously crowded" as more than "100,000 people" crowded onto Georgia Street to see LMFAO perform. Lindquist wrote, "Thankfully, nearly everyone in Super Bowl Village maintained good-natured attitudes" (INDYSTAR.com, 2/4).

CITY'S SUPER SHOWING: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Saturday said, "I believe the community here could not have done a better job of organizing this week's events or embracing this. I think it's great Indianapolis is on the global stage." Goodell later added of Indianapolis, "I think they've done an incredible job. Their organization, their hospitality, the volunteers -- this community is so well prepared for this. They've done a great job" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/4). In Indianapolis, Bob Kravitz wrote it is "safe to suggest that Indianapolis has won this Super Bowl. In a blowout." But Kravitz wrote, "Even if the NFL looks at Indianapolis once again, I don't know if there's enough corporate money to go around a second time. That said, Indianapolis has done nothing to take itself out of the equation for future Super Bowls. This has been a bravura performance, from the leaders to the volunteers, from the big shows to the little details. This hasn't just been the best northern Super Bowl, this has been one of the best Super Bowls, period" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/4). Also in Indianapolis, Matthew Tully wrote, "Is it just me, or has this been a fun 10 days?" Tully: "Call us small-market if you wish, but Indianapolis came up big when granted its biggest stage. Hoosiers not only enjoyed the week but realized once again, and perhaps most definitively, that we could play in the big leagues" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/4). An INDIANAPOLIS STAR editorial stated the past 10 days "already have been a series of wins for the home team -- Central Indiana" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/5).

TAKING NOTES: In N.Y., Judy Battista noted as the CEO of the New York/New Jersey '14 Super Bowl Host Committee, Al Kelly has "immersed himself in the staggering minutiae that an event of this magnitude entails." From the moment Kelly got off the plane in Indianapolis on Wednesday, he was "consumed with questions like, how did the decals at the Indianapolis airport ... get attached?" In a one-hour visit to the NFL Experience, Kelly "dived headfirst into the mind-numbing details that keep that 900,000-square-foot behemoth functioning." He said, "On Monday morning, I’ll have a much better idea of how much I learned. If we pick up one or two terrific ideas or things that definitely don’t work, it’s valuable." When NFL  Senior Dir of Events Mary Pat Augenthaler mentioned that it may "not be possible to have another Super Bowl fanfest without a zip line ... the conversation turned to whether Manhattan streets could be closed off so a zip line could be installed near Times Square" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/4). Kelly on Friday "stressed there is only so much he can take from this week and apply" to the Super Bowl in '14. Kelly: "I'm not sure it's apples and oranges. It's probably fruit and vegetables, not even in the same category." Kelly said that for weather his "dream scenario is what Indianapolis has had this week." He said, "Then about 5 o'clock on Feb. 2, 2014, you get a little bit of snow. It totals maybe three inches, and then it lets up during the trophy ceremony" (NEWSDAY, 2/4).

PREPARING FOR NEXT YEAR: In New Orleans, Michelle Krupa noted with next year's Super Bowl coming to the city, aides to Mayor Mitch Landrieu, along with "key leaders of the Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services departments, have joined the airport executives and a delegation from the Super Bowl XLVII host committee to get an inside look at putting on" Super Bowl XLVI. Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Exec Dir Jay Cicero said that the committee had "about 60 people at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 2/4).