Praise Still Pouring In For Indianapolis As Super Bowl XLVI Host

There is “rampant talk that Indianapolis should join cities such as Miami and New Orleans as regular rotating hosts” for the Super Bowl, according to Robert King of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. While being “awash in the love, leaders of the 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee shared credit for the rave reviews with the 8,000 volunteers and a related army of help from across Indiana who they said numbered as many as 20,000.” Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee Chair Mark Miles said, “We didn't lose. We got through it." Mayor Greg Ballard said that hosting the game “every eight or 10 years might be realistic.” But Indianapolis’ Super Bowl experience “wasn't quite flawless.” There was a “human gridlock that seized up Downtown on Friday night.” It left “some concerned that the scene could have led to a dangerous stampede that would have tainted the week with one fell swoop.” In addition, “long lines, another price of the city's success in drawing people Downtown, meant some visitors to the NFL Experience had to wait 45 minutes or longer to kick a field goal or run the 40-yard dash” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/7). The host committee said that the “next opportunity to host the event, at the earliest, would be 2017.” Committee members said that the city has commitments in ‘16 that “would prevent it from hosting, including NCAA basketball Final Fours in 2015 (men’s) and 2016 (women’s).” Meanwhile, the NFL Experience “recorded 265,039 visitors, a record for any Super Bowl city by about 65,000” (INDYSTAR.com, 2/7). In Indianapolis, Schoettle & Schouten noted the week’s “unseasonably mild weather and a record turnout for NFL Experience -- both in contrast to last year’s game in Dallas -- added to the narrative of Indianapolis as a more-than-capable host city.” City leaders will “have to find a way to generate more revenue for the NFL and its 32 team owners for Indianapolis to muscle its way into a regular Super Bowl rotation.” The city leaders have been “floating plans to incorporate NFL sponsors and other revenue-generating features into future iterations of the Super Bowl Village.” They also are “emphasizing Lucas Oil Stadium can actually accommodate 7,000 more fans than the 68,000-person capacity on Super Bowl Sunday” (INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/4 issue).

BIG SHOES TO FILL: In New Orleans, Jeff Duncan writes Indy officials “put a bow on what was by all accounts the cleanest, most efficient, visitor-friendly Super Bowl in league history.” Crime during the event “was almost nonexistent.” Around 50 or so New Orleans Super Bowl staffers attended last week’s event in Indy. Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation President & CEO and Super Bowl XLVII Host Committee Exec Dir Jay Cicero said, "I think they had prepared themselves for the worst of circumstances in terms of the weather -- and when the weather turned out great, they were poised to take full advantage of it. It was a spectacle. Their downtown infrastructure was strained but I think their hospitality was so overwhelming, people didn't mind." Duncan writes the New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee “now has its work cut out for it to live up" to XLVI's standards. The “biggest mistake New Orleans can make is to try to duplicate the Indy Super Bowl” (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 2/7).

TAKE A BOW: In Indianapolis, Bob Kravitz gave the city an “A+.” Kravitz: “No operation this size can be run flawlessly, but ... this was a tour de force.” The only “mild complaint” was that Friday and Saturday “got a little too crowded around the Super Bowl Village, which made things a bit uncomfortable.” Hoosier hospitality got an “A+” from Kravitz, as there were “random acts of kindness and hospitality all over the place last week.” Kravitz: “It was a bravura performance all around” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/7). ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky noted Indy’s downtown “is perfectly spaced for people to be able to walk to everything -- from Lucas Oil Stadium, to the NFL Experience, to the zip line that drew rave reviews and looked like a blast, to the media center, to the city’s core of restaurants, bars and hotels.” ESPN’s James Walker said, “Indianapolis was very organized and the people were gracious. They exceeded my expectations and definitely upstaged Dallas/Ft. Worth as a hosting Super Bowl city.” ESPN’s Jamison Hensley said, “Hospitality and convenience couldn't have been better in Indianapolis.” But he added, “I wouldn't put it ahead of New Orleans, Miami or San Diego.” ESPN’s Mike Sando said, “This was my 14th Super Bowl experience and easily one of the best” (ESPN.com, 2/6). In Indianapolis, Erika Smith writes the city “did an amazing job hosting the Super Bowl, while simultaneously providing a boost for local businesses and shedding the outdated Naptown image” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/7). In Ft. Worth, Mac Engel notes the weather condition that plagued North Texas last year and writes Indy "won" with “what appears to be a better relationship with Mother Nature.” In hosting “any major event, it's always about the weather” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 2/7). In Albany, Pete Iorizzo writes under the header, “As Host City, Indy Was Super” (Albany TIMES UNION, 2/7).

ZIPPING AROUND: Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials are “looking at the possibility of installing a zipline at the Indianapolis 500 race in May after the success of the attraction at the Super Bowl Village.” IMS Dir of PR Doug Boles said, "Certainly we've gotten a lot of requests from our fans already saying, 'Hey, have a zipline at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.' I would say if we're going to do something like that, we're going to need to know in the next 4 to 6 weeks” (INDYSTAR.com, 2/7).