It would be hard for any city to follow Indianapolis' 2012 Super Bowl. When New Orleans was granted Super Bowl XLVII, they gave it a shot. Their Super Bowl Boulevard put a New Orleans spin on Indianapolis' Super Bowl Village. Despite their efforts, New Orleans will likely be remembered for the mid-game blackout rather than a flawless Super Bowl experience.
Indianapolis stole the show when they hosted the Super Bowl in February 2012. With an impeccable new stadium and impressive downtown renovations, the city served as the prefect centralized location for such a large-scale event. Super Bowl village became an instant hit, acting as an 'epicenter of awesome'. Indianapolis set the bar high for any future Super Bowl host cities.
Last year the Super Bowl came to Indianapolis for the first time in the championship's existence. After working hard for months, the Indiana Sports Corp organized the perfect bid. With construction of Lucas Oil Stadium set to complete in August 2008, the city would finally have a venue worthy of such an attraction. After much consideration, the NFL congratulated the ISC for its efforts by awarding the city Super Bowl XLVI.
The lights went out for the first time in Super Bowl history. The Superdome was darkened for 34 minutes before the championship could resume. On top of that, the power outage almost cost the Baltimore Ravens the championship when it transferred the momentum to San Francisco.
The chaos in the Superdome made Lucas Oil Stadium look even better than it had last season. Not only were the pre-game festivities amazing, the game went on without a hitch. With the city littered with Giants well-wishers, the outcome of Super Bowl XLVI was the icing on the cake.
With cities such as Miami, San Francisco, Houston, Minneapolis, Denver and Dallas considering bidding, the competition for Super Bowl LII will likely be steep. The allure of warmer weather and new stadiums will have an appeal to the NFL. It will be another year before the list of competitors will be known, as bids are due in May, 2014.
As Indianapolis looks forward to submitting a bid, the Superdome blackout only helps their case. While it will likely be a tougher battle, there is still hope for Indianapolis. The 2012 Super Bowl was a success on many levels. It is now known Indianapolis can run with the big dogs.
Comments