BIG-EVENTS LINEUP
Where three of America’s marquee sporting events will be played in the coming years (sites haven’t been chosen beyond the years listed):
SUPER BOWL
February 2015, Glendale, Ariz.
February 2016, Santa Clara, Calif.
February 2017, Houston
February 2018, Minneapolis
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
January 2015, Arlington, Texas
January 2016, Glendale, Ariz.
January 2017, Tampa, Fla.
NCAA MEN’S FINAL FOUR
April 2015, Indianapolis
April 2016, Houston
April 2017, Glendale, Ariz.
April 2018, San Antonio
April 2019, Minneapolis
April 2020, Atlanta
April 2021, Indianapolis
With the Final Four secured for 2020, Atlanta sports and tourism officials plan to take aim at two other targets for the new Falcons stadium: the College Football Playoff championship game in January 2018 and the Super Bowl in February 2019.
Bid processes are scheduled to begin next year for those mega-events, convenient timing for a city with a $1.2 billion retractable-roof stadium under construction.
“It actually all sets up very nicely. Now we’ve got to execute that,” Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau president and CEO William Pate said. “But we’ve got the first piece in, the Final Four, and now we can really focus on trying to get the college football championship in ’18 followed by the Super Bowl in ’19.”
The College Football Playoff organization plans to send requests for proposals (RFPs) to host the national championship games in 2018 and 2019 to interested cities in February, with the site selections scheduled for next fall.
The NFL plans to kick off the competition to host the 2019 and 2020 Super Bowls in May by inviting a limited number of cities to make formal bids, with the new Falcons stadium expected to ensure Atlanta a spot on the short list. The winners are expected to be chosen in spring 2016 in a vote by NFL owners.
Atlanta Sports Council executive director Dan Corso said he believes Atlanta has “got a great shot” at landing both the college football championship game and the Super Bowl. He cited several reasons: the city’s history of hosting major sports events, a “collaborative” approach to bids by multiple local organizations, and the new stadium and its proximity to downtown hotels and attractions.
Those also were among the points pitched to the NCAA men’s basketball committee in Atlanta’s Final Four bid, which landed the 2020 event last week.
“I think it bodes well for what we can do in the future,” Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay said.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank has long made it known he wants the 2019 Super Bowl in the new downtown stadium, which is slated to open in 2017 and will be operated by Blank’s organization. The NFL requires a stadium to be open for two regular seasons before it hosts a Super Bowl, making the ’19 game the first for which the new Falcons stadium would be eligible.
The NFL originally planned to start the 2019 Super Bowl bid process this fall, but delayed it and combined it with the 2020 site selection.
“Because they’re going to award two Super Bowls at the same time, I would anticipate us bidding on both and seeing if we can secure either one,” McKay said.
The 2019 Super Bowl still would seem the better fit for Atlanta since the city has the Final Four in 2020, but McKay said bidders shouldn’t be picky.
“One thing we’re not going to sound, when it comes to bids for big events like this, is boastful,” McKay said. “Because they’re tough to get, they’re very competitive.”
Atlanta will have an edge as apparently the only city in the next round of Super Bowl bidding with a new stadium. The NFL has made a habit of awarding Super Bowls to new stadiums built with the help of taxpayer dollars. But South Florida, boosted by a planned major renovation of the Miami Dolphins’ stadium, is expected to be a strong challenger for the 2019 event.
Potential competitors for the college football championship game include New Orleans, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, South Florida and Santa Clara, Calif., site of the San Francisco 49ers’ new stadium.
Atlanta’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl already is assured of hosting a College Football Playoff semifinal game on Dec. 31, 2016, in the Georgia Dome and at the end of the 2019, 2022 and 2025 seasons in the new stadium. The bid process for the national championship game is separate from the semifinals, which are part of the bowl system.
Atlanta’s local operating budget to stage the 2020 Final Four is $8.5 million, which will come from a portion of the city’s hotel-motel tax that is designated for attracting major conventions and sporting events. The same funding source would be tapped to host the college-football championship game and the Super Bowl, although the latter would require other funding sources as well — probably corporate support, Pate said.
Based on feedback from the NCAA basketball committee, which selects Final Four sites, Atlanta will continue to emphasize in its other bids the availability of near-the-stadium facilities, such as the Georgia World Congress Center, Centennial Olympic Park, the College Football Hall of Fame and the Georgia Aquarium, for fan events.
“We talk a lot as a committee about footprint and the walkability of the city as it relates to ancillary events,” said Scott Barnes, committee chairman and Utah State’s athletic director. “Atlanta captures what we’re looking for … where things are condensed in close proximity for the most part. It really builds out that atmosphere.”
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