Learning a lesson from the Super Bowl: 2016 College Football National Championship
Jul 1, 2015, 5:00 AM | Updated: 5:00 am
PHOENIX — The Valley will host the 2016 College Football National Championship game in January.
Final plans are not set, but Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said Phoenix is planning a fan experience similar to the one that happened in downtown Phoenix for the Super Bowl. Several streets were blocked off for that event, but there were free concerts. Bars and restaurants were also kept busy.
Stanton hopes that some downtown businesses have learned from the Super Bowl and will use that to prepare for the college football event. The city of Phoenix issued a special liquor license during the Super Bowl.
“Phoenix did a liquor license where it was shared,” Stanton said. “The restaurants all shared a singular liquor license. People could then travel with a liquor drink, in their hand, from restaurant to restaurant to create a festival atmosphere.”
The problem, said Stanton, is that some bars and restaurants didn’t stock up on enough food and liquor.
“They didn’t know how much to order, because it was such a unique, first time event,” Stanton said. “So many restaurants erred on the side of not ordering enough. If they had to do it over again, they would have had more in stock, because they did run out of alcohol in some instances.”
Stanton hopes that the bars and restaurants have learned their lesson and will be stocked up and better prepared for the football party in January.
The game itself is set for January 11 at University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale.