Super Bowl LII, in 2018, may be the last thing on football fan’s minds, but three groups are focused on getting the win. They aren’t football teams. They’re cities, and only one will win the honor of being the location of the 2018 Super Bowl.
Indianapolis, Minneapolis and New Orleans are the major contenders, and the cities have two weeks to make their case before a decision is made. According to the Associated Press, the cities have given proposals to the 32 NFL team owners. The final vote takes place on May 20th, and tension is running high. “It’s a very competitive process,” Indianapolis’ Allison Melangton told the AP, “We’ve got 13 days to go and we want to take every competitive advantage we’ve got.”
One advantage Indianapolis is counting on is the final bid pitch, which will be made by Colts Owner, Jim Irsay, who hasn’t been seen in public since March 16th, and is now facing felony drug charges…
Wait, is that an advantage or a disadvantage?
Colts COO Pete Ward is hopeful the final bid will go without a hitch. “Jim’s planning on being at the meeting,” he said to USA Today, “Every owner of the franchises whose city is bidding has a chance to talk for five minutes, so he plans on talking to the ownership. He’s very excited about the bid. . . He has become increasingly more active in terms of lobbying and just keeping tabs on how things are going.”
Some of the other cities face challenges as well. For Minneapolis, it’s the fact that the city gets very, very cold in February, when the Super Bowl always takes place.
“You’ll be proud to know that we’re going to celebrate winter,” Richard Davis of Minneapolis’s bid committee told the Pioneer Press. They were more hesitant to reveal any more details. No city seems to want to give away any part of it’s bid package.
All that leaves is New Orleans, trying to break the record of most super bowls held ever:
Wouldn't it be great to see Super Bowl LII here in 2018? Bid packages are in the mail! Live report at 6 on @FOX8NOLA pic.twitter.com/2DoLXlWMSv
— Carolyn Scofield (@NewsCarolyn) May 7, 2014
…So who will it be? The announcement will be made in two weeks, and you will have to wait four years to watch the results.
Image via WISH-TV YouTube