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Public Input Sought As Indy Bids Again For Super Bowl

Panel Hopes Tweaks In Approach Will Land 2012 Event

POSTED: 5:59 pm EST February 19, 2008

The committee hoping to bring the 2012 Super Bowl to Indianapolis says a few adjustments to its previous bid -- including proposing a Super Bowl "village" and listening to community input -- could help it succeed.

The city on Tuesday announced it would bid for the 2012 event. The announcement came less than a year after Indianapolis came just short of securing the 2011 Super Bowl.

At a news conference announcing the bid at the Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said fellow NFL team owners, who decide where Super Bowls will be held, told him last year that Indianapolis' bid for 2011 was great and that the city should try again.

"We can put on a great Super Bowl," said Irsay, who also is co-chairman of the committee's board of directors. "I think that's what we have to be able to continue to communicate."

Houston and Glendale, Ariz., are expected to compete with Indianapolis for the 2012 event.

Mark Miles, the committee's president, said he wants the community to contribute ideas on the panel's Web site, www.our2012sb.com. The committee said it is especially interested in getting ideas about having a Super Bowl "village" where visitors could gather downtown.

"This is the community's bid," Miles said. "Collectively as citizens of Indianapolis and as Hoosiers, we all benefit if we win the Super Bowl, and we all need to pull together to make it happen. We want to tap into the community's energy and expertise, and gather the best ideas from every source."

Lucas Oil Stadium, which is expected to open this year, will be a major selling point in Indianapolis' bid for the 2012 Super Bowl.

Indianapolis' new Lucas Oil Stadium, which is expected to start hosting Colts games this year, will be a big part of the bid.

"This stadium -- and we want to continue to get this out on a national and even international level -- will be the finest and most expensive stadium in the country," Irsay said.

The Indianapolis committee has to submit preliminary documents to the NFL by April 1, and a final bid is due May 9.

Indianapolis representatives will make an in-person presentation during a league meeting in Atlanta in late May, and the NFL team owners are expected to chose the 2012 venue by May 21, according to city officials.

The NFL has added new requirements for the 2012 Super Bowl. Bidders for the 2012 game must promise 2,000 more seats than was required for the 2011 game, and the winning city must be able to throw a large NFL-sponsored concert the day before the game.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said he had asked panel members to confirm that the bid would make sense for the city's taxpayers before making the bid official.

"The answer to all of our questions was a resounding 'yes,' so I'm pleased to announce that ... our hat is in the ring," Ballard said in a news release.


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