Minnesota Deep Into Preparations For Super Bowl LII; '19 Atlanta Committee Visits Houston
The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee today "takes the ball" for Super Bowl LII, to be played next year at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, according to Brian Murphy of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. Billboard clocks throughout the metro area "will count down the 52 weeks" until the game. There will be rallies tomorrow afternoon "outside the stadium and Friday night at the Mall of America rotunda." Minnesota hosted Super Bowl XXVI in '92, but the then "four-day ramp up" has grown into a "10-day interactive extravaganza." Activities in Minneapolis will "center downtown at the convention center and Nicollet Mall." There will be an "interactive football bazaar where NFL players sign autographs, playgrounds for kids to kick field goals, and stages for concerts." The Mall of America is "expected to host the media party at Nickelodeon Universe," and the city of St. Paul will "incorporate Super Bowl activities into the annual Winter Carnival." The Xcel Energy Center is a "candidate to host the Monday Opening Night Party and Media Day." Minneapolis has a "police force of 850 officers but also is partnering with local, state and federal agencies to facilitate the NFL’s security perimeter" (TWINCITIES.com, 2/3). In Minneapolis, Rochelle Olson wrote while Houston is a "big city always ready to host a major convention, the Twin Cities will do more with less money, less infrastructure, less political support and much lower temperatures" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/5). In Milwaukee, Steve Jagler profiled Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee VP/Communications & Events Andrea Mokros (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/5).
NO TIME TO LOSE: In Atlanta, Tim Tucker noted the city’s host committee for Super Bowl LIII in '19 "spent about 10 hours Friday getting an NFL-organized, behind-the-scenes look at how Houston is staging the mega-event." Metro Atlanta Host Committee COO Brett Daniels said, "We can’t start soon enough. Saying ‘it’s two years away, we can do that a little bit later’ -- that’s not going to be reality." The NFL "conducted Friday’s series of meetings and venue tours for the host committees of the next three Super Bowl sites" -- Minneapolis in '18, Atlanta in '19 and Miami in '20 (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/5).
LOOKING LONG-TERM: In S.F., Al Saracevic noted the 49ers recently "passed on" the chance to bid on hosting Super Bowl LVI in '22 and LVII in '23, instead expressing "interest in the following three" in '24, '25 and '26. However, the team has "put in only a cursory notice of interest, and has yet to crank up the machine that would include the requisite political support and fundraising mechanisms" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/5). In Pittsburgh, Tom Fontaine noted the Steelers "submitted paperwork to the NFL nearly two years ago indicating the team's interest" in hosting Super Bowl LVII in '23. Formal bids are "due next year," but the Steelers are "being tight-lipped about whether they will actually go through with the application." Steelers President Art Rooney II: "We are still looking at what needs to be done, and we have a ways to go on that front" (TRIBLIVE.com, 2/4).
