INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis will make another bid to host the Super Bowl in the new Lucas Oil Stadium.
Despite the excitement generated from the Indianapolis Colts' still-fresh Super Bowl championship, pitches from coach Tony Dungy and Speedway owner Tony George and even a Top 10 list from Indianapolis native David Letterman, NFL owners voted in May to play the 2011 Super Bowl in the Cowboys' new $1 billion stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Now, Indy officials have decided to make another try next spring for the 2012 NFL championship.
"It's still at a very preliminary stage," spokesman Bill Benner of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association said Friday. "Every NFL city has received the bid specifications from the league. Indianapolis will be moving forward on that."
[ The road to
Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz. may start on Jan. 5, but the competition for the 12-team playoff field is already under way.
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The bid deadline is April 1, Benner said. The winner is expected to be announced at the owners' annual spring meeting May 19-21 in Atlanta.
This year's bid package for the 2011 Super Bowl included commitments of more than $25 million, the availability of some 27,000 hotel rooms, sites for dozens of related events and accommodations for fans and media.
The Texas bid, made more attractive with the prospect of some 30,000 more seats available than in the new Indianapolis stadium, won 17-15 on the fourth ballot by the owners.
Benner said the Indianapolis bid for the 2012 game probably would be "very similar" to the last one.
"We came so close to being successful with the last one," he said. "To my understanding, there's not a great variance in the bid specifics from the last one. So why reinvent the wheel?"
Lucas Oil Stadium is scheduled to open next season.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
