It took nearly five years for Indianapolis to plan its first Super Bowl and from the looks of things; it was a very successful first run.
More than one million people enjoyed the Super Bowl Village, the NFL Experience had a record 265,039 visitors and a total of 10,429 people rode the famous 800-foot zipline that cascaded above Capitol Avenue.
Visitors stayed everywhere from Greenfield to Bloomington to South Bend just to be a part of the action. Brothers Jeremy and Jared Davis from Chicago were lucky enough to get a room at the downtown Hyatt.
“There was no way I was going to miss this,” said Jeremy Davis. “I knew people were concerned about the weather, but I’m from Chicago and that was the least of my worries. This has been amazing because there has been something to do every second of every day.”
Would the brothers return for a second Super Bowl?
“Absolutely,” said Jared Davis. “The Midwest rarely gets such opportunities, but we should. Who knew Indianapolis could be so much fun?”
Apparently the Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee did.
“We knew Indianapolis would be a great host city,” said Dianna Boyce, spokeswoman for the Host Committee. “It was just a matter of putting all the pieces together.”
The city has had such a great response that the possibility of hosting another Super Bowl isn’t so farfetched. The city has commitments in 2016 that would prevent it from hosting, including NCAA basketball Final Fours in 2015 (men’s) and 2016 (women’s), committee members said. The next opportunity to host the event, at the earliest, would be 2017.
Patrick Rishe, a contributor for Forbes Magazine, believes the city’s convenient and compact downtown made it most popular among visitors.
“Indianapolis knocked it out of the park as host city for Super Bowl XLVI by most accounts … be it NFL executives, fans or corporate types in town for both business and pleasure. You name it, they liked it,” said Rishe. “I would be absolutely flabbergasted with a capital ‘F’ if Indy doesn’t host another Super Bowl within the next five to eight years.”
Even though Indy is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and is in rotation to host NCAA National Championship games, many questioned if the city could pull off a Super Bowl.
Organizers hope the impression Indy left leads to more big events.
“We’ve always been a favorite of the sports media because of our many huge events, and some sports reporters come several times a year,” said Chris Gahl, vice president of marketing for the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association. “But to see how surprised and how impressed the mainstream press was with our arts, culture, dining and hospitality, that’s a real feather in our cap.”
