Following two months of extensive collaboration, Minnesota’s Super Bowl Bid Committee submitted to the NFL today the state’s preliminary bid to host Super Bowl LII in 2018.
“Submitting this bid was a tremendous task that involved multiple individuals and organizations in Minnesota,” said Richard Davis, co-chair, Super Bowl Bid Committee, and CEO, U.S. Bank. “This level of collaboration allowed us to produce a comprehensive bid that accurately reflects the excellent attributes of our region. Today, we put Minnesota’s best foot forward, and we feel extremely good about our bid.”
A culmination of collaborative work by the Minnesota Super Bowl Steering Committee and the state’s corporate and civic leadership, the preliminary bid submission includes hundreds of pages covering all aspects of Super Bowl Week – event venue options, transportation and parking, lodging, security procedures, team practice sites and more. Highlights from the bid include the following:
- More than 180 hotels from throughout the region worked with the committee to secure over 19,000 hotel rooms.
- 48 different venue options throughout Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul were identified for potential use during Super Bowl Week.
- Practice sites for the two competing teams were covered in great detail.
- A letter of support was authored and signed by Governor Mark Dayton and republican and democratic legislative leaders.
“The potential benefits of hosting the 2018 Super Bowl are understood by so many of the organizations and businesses in this region, and many are a part of this bid,” said Melvin Tennant, president and CEO, Meet Minneapolis. “The collaboration and support shown so far have been more than we could have asked for. This has been an affirmation of our decision to compete for this opportunity.”
Members of the Minnesota Super Bowl Bid Committee will meet with NFL staff in New York City later this month to zero in on bid details and respond to the questions in the draft bid documents. Following those meetings, the committee will submit its final bid on May 7, and just two weeks later, will make an oral presentation to all 32 NFL owners during the NFL Owners Meetings in Atlanta (May 19-21). The final host selection for the game on Feb. 4, 2018 will take place at that time.
