Fans Turn Out In Droves For Opening Of NFL Experience In S.F.

The opening of the NFL Experience in downtown S.F. yesterday "was a loud, colorful and sponsor-laden ceremony." A half-hour after the event opened, a long line "already had formed for close-up looks of the previous 49 Super Bowl rings" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 1/31). There also were "long lines" at the NFL Pro Shop. At 1:00pm PT yesterday, the checkout line "was at least 100 feet long" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 1/30). The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS' Cam Inman gives a first-person account of the NFL Experience.

The NFL and its corporate sponsors for Super Bowl City "have plastered gi-normous mega-mammoth banners and imagery on many buildings" above the Justin Herman Plaza. Once inside Super Bowl City, "some of the stuff looks very cool," and all of it "looks very corporate-draped" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/31). Musician Chris Isaak yesterday headlined the opening of Super Bowl City, where festivities also "included a dramatic relighting of the amazing Bay Bridge Lights" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/31).