Houston Loses Out On 2009 Super Bowl
NFL Owners Choose Tampa
POSTED: Wednesday, May 25, 2005
UPDATED: 5:47 pm CDT May 25,
2005
HOUSTON -- Houston lost out to Tampa, Fla. in its bid to host the 2009 Super Bowl, the National Football League announced Wednesday.
Tampa, which most recently hosted the NFL title game in 2001, beat out finalists Houston, Atlanta, and Miami. Tampa also hosted Super Bowls in 1984 and 1991.The four cities vying to host the Super Bowl in February 2009 gave 15-minute presentations to league officials Wednesday morning on why the game should be held in their towns.Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams said he considered the vote to be a two-city race between Atlanta and Houston.Texans owner Bob McNair, Mayor Bill White and other city leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., for the league's meeting. After the presentation, McNair told Local 2 he was optimistic that Houston would emerge as the 2009 host."Well, I was disappointed. I'm never shocked by anything anymore. I think I've seen too many things. Sure, I'm disappointed. I wanted this Super Bowl for Houston and I think our bid was the strongest bid and I think we have the best facilities," McNair said.Reliant Stadium hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004. NFL team owners and league officials considered the weeklong event in Houston a huge success.Football fans were not the only ones disappointed with the NFL's decision.For downtown Houston businesses, the loss of the Super Bowl means a loss of revenue.The 2004 Super Bowl was a touchdown for many bars, restaurants and hotels."It was definitely a very, very profitable weekend," said Carolina De La Cruz , with the Jefe Bar. "I would say that my sales probably would have to have tripled what I would normally do in a weekend and it definitely helped out a lot to get my business out there."Approximately 300,000 people flooded into downtown Houston over Super Bowl weekend."The first Friday of the Super Bowl, we ran out of food, we didn't have enough staff available. The alcohol consumption -- everything was going -- beer, wine, you name it, it was going. I couldn't service enough people, couldn't sit them down fast enough," De La Cruz said.Next season's Super Bowl will be Feb. 5, 2006, in Detroit, with the 2007 game in Miami, and 2008 in a new stadium being built in Glendale, Ariz.NFL owners voted in March to award the 2010 Super Bowl to New York, provided the Jets get approval for a 75,000-seat stadium on the West Side of Manhattan.
Copyright 2006 by Click2Houston.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Team Coverage: Houston Officials, Fans, Businesses React To LossCopyright 2006 by Click2Houston.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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