Week of August 16, 2012
| Time out in picking Super Bowl site By Scott BlakeSouth Florida's quest for the 2016 Super Bowl continues, albeit at a slower pace. Local organizers had expected the National Football League to issue invitations in October for cities to bid to host the game. However, the league is now expected to wait to solicit bids until sometime from April through June next year, said South Florida Super Bowl Committee Chairman Rodney Barreto. "It's OK," Mr. Barreto said this week. "It just gives us more time" to work on a presentation. "It not uncommon," he added about the change in timing. "It's subject to change." Hosting another Super Bowl would be prize for South Florida's visitors industry. In addition to millions of dollars in local spending from visitors and events connected to the Super Bowl, the game has a high promotional value for its host city. The estimated economic impact for last winter's Super Bowl in Indianapolis was $150 million or higher. That game also drew a record 111.3 million video viewers in the US, in addition to millions more outside the country. South Florida has hosted the most Super Bowls — 10, the last one in 2010 at Sun Life Stadium, home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins in Miami Gardens in north Miami-Dade County. Greater Miami's long Super Bowl history has had many highlights. The low came in 1989, when riots erupted in Miami during the week of the game at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Orange Bowl was demolished in 2008 and has been replaced by the Miami Marlins baseball stadium. If South Florida casts the winning bid for 2016, the Super Bowl again would be played at Sun Life Stadium. A bid typically includes information about available hotel space and room rates, venues available for Super Bowl-related events, and offers to pay or cover certain expenses related to the game. The committee now is comprised of six core members, but others are expected to join the group as the process moves ahead, Mr. Barreto said. The core members are Mr. Barreto, a local businessman; William Talbert III, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau; Nicki Grossman, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau; Holland & Knight attorney Bruce Colan; Dolphins CEO Mike Dee; and Nat Moore, a former Dolphins wide receiver and now the team's senior vice president. As leaders in the region's tourism industry, Mr. Talbert and Ms. Grossman are expected to play lead roles in packaging South Florida's Super Bowl bid, Mr. Barreto said. The NFL has chosen locations for the Super Bowl through 2015. Mr. Barreto anticipates South Florida will compete for the 2016 game with Dallas, Indianapolis, Tampa Bay and possibly others. To read the entire issue of Miami Today online, subscribe to e -Miami Today, an exact digital replica of the printed edition. |
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