Arizona eyes 2011 Super Bowl

The Super Bowl will be in the Valley in 2008. Getting it back here in 2011 may be a longshot.

Even the Arizona Super Bowl Committee understands this, but Arizona still is one of three cities vying for the 2011 game. The 32 NFL owners will make the decision Tuesday during their meetings in Nashville, Tenn.

“Three years (between hosting games) is not unprecedented, although there is a little of the ‘Let’s spread it around’ mentality by the NFL,” committee chairman Mike Kennedy said. “But we want to partner with the league in bringing Super Bowls to the Valley, and you can’t do that sitting on the sideline.”

Dallas and Indianapolis, both of which will have new stadiums by 2011, are the other cities bidding for Super Bowl XLV.

The bid process, months in the making, will come down to a relatively small window of time Tuesday. To begin, each city’s committee will be brought in for separate 15-minute presentations. Kennedy and committee president Bob Sullivan will be making Arizona’s pitch, which will include a promotional video.

The others making the trip for the Arizona committee include Sports and Tourism Authority chairman Larry Landry; Steve Moore, the president and CEO of the Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau; and bid consultant Sallie Sargent.

After the presentations, the ownership from each host city’s team gets five minutes to speak on the area’s behalf.

“The teams aren’t part of the presentation, but they are part of the process,” said Cardinals’ vice president Michael Bidwill, who also serves on the Arizona Super Bowl Committee’s board.

The owners will then take a vote to see if a venue has 75 percent support. If not, the lowest vote-getter is eliminated, and another vote is taken with the majority vote winning.

Dallas is regarded as the favorite, thanks to the $1 billion stadium being built for the Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones’ place as one of the league’s top powerbrokers.

Kennedy believes the Arizona committee will benefit from its existing relationship with the NFL as a two-time Super Bowl city. Neither Dallas nor Indianapolis has ever hosted a Super Bowl.

Kennedy said the committee is leaning on two themes for its presentation: One, that Arizona is “in the Super Bowl-hosting business,” and two, the Valley will look different — and better — in three years compared to the area the NFL will see in February.

Still, the committee is already thinking ahead if Arizona isn’t awarded the 2011 game. While the Arizona committee isn’t going to make bids on an annual basis, “we do anticipate submitting a bid for 2012 if we are not successful (Tuesday),” Kennedy said.

The 2009 game will be in Tampa Bay. The 2010 game is in Miami.