North Texas expected to overcome weather and land another SB - Ingles

Countdown to SB XLV Kickoff
Friday, February 04 2011

Bill Lively commiserates with North Texans still tiptoeing along slippery sidewalks, sliding down icy roads and searching for enough layers to keep warm in the midst of the deep freeze that has gripped the region for three days. This article was written by Pete Alfano and appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"My street is a sheet of ice," said Lively, a Dallas resident and president of the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee.

"It's dangerous around the Media Center" in downtown Dallas. "I've called people and asked them to put more sand around it. And the problems won't go away until the temperature gets above freezing. So, we can't fix it, but we can improve it."

The weather has been a major topic of discussion during Super Bowl week. That's a rarity for a game that is usually held at warmer February locales.

The storm that iced down North Texas roads and the lingering frigid temperatures have raised questions about whether the region's first Super Bowl will be its last.

North Texas is already planning to bid for Super Bowl L, the golden anniversary game in 2016. Competition may come from Los Angeles, which hosted the first Super Bowl in 1967.

National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell was encouraging when asked about the weather during an appearance Thursday in Arlington.

"Anytime you put on an event, there are challenges," Goodell said. "We were prepared for it. We've got a great stadium and a great community. So I don't believe this will hurt" future bids.

Although ice storms were identified early as the biggest unknown surrounding Super Bowl preparations, the unusual deep freeze has compounded the problem. Temperatures usually moderate much quicker after a snow or ice event in North Texas, which hastens the melting process.

But the region is not expected to see above-freezing temperatures until Saturday. And there may be more snow Friday.

Working in the region's favor, however, is the scope of the storm, which has affected two-thirds of the country. Lively showed a photo of his granddaughter in Chicago, in snow almost at hip level.

"It's a storm going down in the record books," Goodell said.

In fact, ice and 10-degree temperatures closed schools and brought things to a standstill in Indianapolis, the site of next year's Super Bowl.

The greater Phoenix area, which has hosted three Super Bowls, got frost Thursday morning and temperatures were expected to drop to freezing overnight.

And New York-New Jersey, which has seen a record snowfall this winter, will host the 2014 Super Bowl in the new Meadowlands Stadium -- outdoors.

While Goodell lobbied for a New York-New Jersey Super Bowl and obviously has a great deal of influence, it's the league's 32 owners who decide where the Super Bowl will be played. And most of them hadn't even arrived in North Texas when the early-week storm hit.

The NFL, like every sports league, is driven by the bottom line, and Cowboys Stadium will probably offset any weather negatives.

"What got the game here, and what will carry the day is the stadium," Lively said.

"It's the quality of the venue that generates revenue. It's too good a place not to come back."

Attendance at Sunday's game is expected to break the NFL record of around 104,000, plus Cowboys Stadium includes 300 high-dollar suites for use by the NFL and corporate sponsors. And the weather is expected to improve, although temperatures will still be below normal. Sunday's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and highs in the upper 40s.

Sports Illustrated's Peter King said on his Twitter feed this week that he "absolutely" expects the Super Bowl to return to Arlington. "Jerryworld's a cash cow."

Lively called the weather a "tremendous disappointment," but said that the response was good and that major highways and venues like I-30, DFW Airport and downtown Fort Worth's Sundance Square were basically ice-free. It isn't just because of the Super Bowl, he said, but because those are high-traffic areas.

"There is just too much geography," Lively said. "But we're not going to change our approach for the next bid.

"We can't lose perspective. The last two years has changed the region, and we watched the region rally.

"I think the NFL will adjudicate the game on Sunday, the venue, everything around it. I don't know why [the ice and cold] would affect the next bid."