Chris Gahl, Volunteer Co-Chair and Director of Communications for the Indianapolis Visitors Bureau, spoke to Kiwanis about the 2012 Super Bowl. The epic game is only 530 (from 8-24) days away. He told about all that went in to winning the bid for the Bowl game and what that win would do for the city and surrounding donut areas.
In order to be in the running for the game, the city had to have 70,000 seats available and be connected to a Convention Center for the NFL for use for the NFL Experience, a required number of hotel rooms in the area, restaurants and a required number of “beer taps”. Also, two practice areas within a 50 mile radius had to be provided. Indy has one at the Colts complex but the second had to be added and it will be built at the University of Indianapolis. After the bowl, one million dollars worth of turf will be donated to Tech High School for “Project Legacy”. The hope of all is to leave a “positive footprint” on the city that will lead to recovery of areas of Indianapolis that have needed help. Happening right now is the planting of 2,012 trees. By Bowl time, Indianapolis will have the trees growing and that will help beautify the area and be a lasting contribution.
What will this do for the city and area? The Super Bowl has become an unofficial holiday and expects to add 125 to 400 million which provides a huge economic impact to our community. This represents a huge return on the 25 million dollar investment. The Bowl is the most watched primetime network telecast. The Super Bowl promises at least 120,000 visitors as compared to the 80,000 that attend the NCAA tourney. Fans from 230 countries are expected. NBC will be telecasting the game in 2012 and the TODAY show as well as NBC nightly news will be in Indianapolis the week before the game.
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