By Evan Weiner |
Suppose you are a politician and you have a National Football League franchise within your district, city, or state and you decide that you want to bring a Super Bowl to town. How do you go about the task? No problem, if NFL management feels that you have the goods to host a game, they will come to you with a list of demands and you either say “yes” or “no.”
National Football League management no longer has a competition among cities and states and potential host Super Bowl commitments and selects a city. There probably are a number of reasons for that. Losing bid backers might be upset. But the NFL and city officials probably want as much secrecy as possible in doing a deal.
In 2014, someone leaked the NFL’s 153 page book of its demands of Minneapolis and Minnesota for the 2018 Super Bowl. The NFL wanted all stadium revenue. All the ATM machines in the mostly taxpayers funded Vikings stadium would accept just the NFL marketing partner’s credit and debit card. The NFL wanted local police, paid by the municipality, to track down counterfeit items and provide security. The NFL wanted 35,000 parking spots for free within a mile of the stadium for fans and employees. If there was a major snow storm, the NFL demanded first preference in snow removal.
The NFL wanted access to three local golf courses to send people to the clubs to play golf for nothing in the months prior to the Big Game. After all, it was unlikely you could play golf in the Twin Cities area in February. Also, the use of bowling alleys for a celebrity event and usage of 20 billboards near the stadium, practice fields and host hotels welcoming the NFL to town. For Minnesota, it is all about pleasing the NFL and picking up the NFL’s costly Super Bowl bill.
This article was republished with permission from the original publisher, Evan Weiner.