A turf battle between New York and New Jersey is "heating up over 2014 Super Bowl business, as both states vie to host the hundreds of events surrounding the biggest sporting event of the year," according to Haddon & Maloney of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Hotels on "both sides of the Hudson have begun marketing themselves" for Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium. Tourism officials from both states "are pushing big arenas such as Madison Square Garden and Newark's Prudential Center as venues for Super Bowl sideshows." Also, some New Jersey lawmakers "are trying to get a short-term, pop-up casino approved for the Meadowlands during the run-up to the big game." New Jersey officials, "in particular, are ramping up efforts to prove the state doesn't play second-string to New York City, and that its tourism industry has evolved dramatically in the last several years." A cooperative process "has been established in what will be the first time a Super Bowl is hosted jointly by two states," as the Super Bowl Host Committee "has representatives from both states." The winning bid for the Super Bowl "featured a logo with the George Washington Bridge, the iconic span connecting New York and New Jersey." An "important catch for either state would be hosting the 'NFL Experience,' an expo that accompanies each Super Bowl in a large convention center." N.Y.-based Jacob K. Javits Center spokesperson Leslie Buxton said that the center "is booked and won't host Super Bowl events." Meanwhile, a source said that the NFL "has looked at several warehouses in Elizabeth and Secaucus for the event, along with the Meadowlands Expo Center as a credentialing headquarters." An NFL spokesperson said that a decision "likely won't be made until after the 2013 Super Bowl" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/25).
