Indy deserves it. It's the most walkable downtown in America.
February 28th, 2008 by Eddie WhiteIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The NFL Scouting Combine just dominated the downtown area for the better part of nine days. If you wanted a glimpse of Jon Gruden or Super Bowl champ Tom Coughlin it wasn’t hard - the restaurants were filled with scouts, assistant coaches, head coaches GMs, Presidents and yes even the occasional owner. Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell is a fixture at the combine. He’s been to EVERY one! Commissioner Roger Goodell and Players union head Gene Upshaw were also on hand. After the Super Bowl and the conference championship games, this may be the league’s most important event. And it happens EVERY year right here in downtown Indianapolis!
Indianapolis serves as the perfect host for the NFL and its teams and (oh, yeah) the national media. Over 400 credentialed media were on hand for the week. The facilities are second to none. The convenience of the medical operation is perfect for the team doctors and trainers. Coaches love that they can walk from hotel to hotel, from hotel to convention center, from hotel to meeting rooms. They love that when they get a break they can easily move around downtown for dinner.
What does all this mean? It means that Indy has a “super” chance to grab the Super Bowl in 2012. From all perspectives, from the coaches to the media, from the owners to league administrators, Indy and its downtown gets rave reviews. For example, Peter King of Sports Illustrated & NBC wrote this on his national web page:
“…as long as we’re talking about Indy, I hope Indianapolis gets the 2012 Super Bowl … and this from a guy who wishes every Super Bowl were played in San Diego. Indy deserves it. It’s the most walkable downtown in America.”
John Clayton is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is a national NFL reporter like King. He lives in Seattle but is “Mr. NFL Insider” for ESPN. He was a guest on our radio show this week and he offered these thoughts:
“I give Indy a ‘double thumbs up’ for a Super Bowl bid. It’s accessible and easy to get around. Other than New Orleans and to a certain degree, Tampa, it’s the most intimate city for a Super Bowl. And I mean that in the best way. You can walk anywhere. Lots of restaurants. Lots of hotels. It’s the best city as far as being close. You can walk from the hotel to the stadium without ever going outside. I love the city. And the people are very special. I was there for a Colts game once and I was sick. The hotel sent up chicken soup and followed up to see how I was. You don’t get that anywhere else. If the league wants to consider a northern site, the thing you want to avoid as a member of the media is boarding a bus for a 40 minute ride each day. You won’t get that in Indianapolis. I support Indy for a Super Bowl. Everything you need to do is a walk away.”
So, it looks good. We’re getting good feedback. But, we’ve got a lot of work to do. This city deserves a Super Bowl. I have been blessed to work and attend over 20 Super Bowls, and I have always said one of the keys to a successful event is the city’s volunteers. And we do THAT better than anyone. Whether it was the old Brickyard Crossing Senior golf event or the Pan Am games or a Final Four, we have always delivered Hoosier Hospitality to our guests from all over the world.
It’s time for the Super Bowl to come to America’s heartland. A “super” game for a “super” city, filled with “super” people. I can’t wait.
(Eddie White is the afternoon co-host of a sports talk show on ESPN 1070 The Fan. White also works in public relations for Reebok. He is a former Asst. SID at Notre Dame and spent four years as the Director of PR for the Miami Dolphins. He has worked over 20 Super Bowls in various capacities for the NFL.)
Eddie White
Sports Talk Show Host on ESPN 1070 The Fan
ContactUs@OUR2012SB.com
I don’t know all of the numbers and all of the criteria for awarding a Super Bowl bid. Clearly Indy can’t win a temperature battle with Houston or Arizona. What this commentary does is highlight two things:
1. The set up of Indy reduces the importance of the temperature, compared to other cities.
2. The Super Bowl, in the end is a party. When you have a party you want it to be easy for people to get to, easy for people to interact, and easy for people to have a good time.
Indy can win on all of these measures, even if the temperature is a little cooler.
Kevin Eikenberry
I certainly agree Indianapolis deserves a Super Bowl. The reality is they lost the 2011 bid to Dallas in a close vote. When you consider the revenue that only Dallas could promise with their new 100,000 plus seat stadium and the fact that the outcome was still close, this proves that Indianapolis is – in the eyes of the NFL owners – a viable host candidate.
It will be another feather in the cap for a city that does large sporting events – and the aforementioned hospitality – well (Indy 500, Brickyard 400, US Grand Prix, US Nationals, NCAA FInal Four, Men’s and Women’s Big Ten Championships, etc).
I don’t know how bad the other candidates want the Super Bowl(which I am sure is pretty bad), but Indianapolis definitely wants and deserves a Super Bowl. We accommodate other prestigious events such as the 500, 400, Grand Prix, etc…. Indiana, in itself, is a very competitive state; from football to basketball to euchre… Bring it!!!! We will support it just as well or even better than any city in the running!
One of the things Indy has demonstrated over and over is our ability to amass volunteers to make events like this run smoothly. While we can not control the clouds we can do more to insure the experience is more memorable ( in a good way) then any other city.