Glendale council votes unanimously to back 2023 Super Bowl bid
Mar 29, 2018, 1:10 PM | Updated: 1:16 pm
A fan takes a picture outside University of Phoenix Stadium before the NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
PHOENIX — The Glendale City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to support a bid for the 2023 Super Bowl.
The council approved a resolution to back the Super Bowl Host Committee in its attempt to land the big game.
In order for a bid to be submitted to the National Football League, a committee must have the support of all cities where events or the game will be held. Phoenix passed a similar resolution last week.
Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said the vote did not guarantee the big game would return to University of Phoenix Stadium, but it was a step in the right direction.
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“I think having a unanimous council, working along with a lot of businesses … headed for the same goal that’s to remind people what was said in the last Super Bowl if people paid attention: Glendale was announced as the ‘sports capital of the United States,'” he said.
“I was pretty proud of that.”
Three years ago, Weiers’ claimed that his city lost millions — primarily because of public safety costs — hosting the Super Bowl. Despite that, other councilmembers said they were optimistic about the bid.
“I actually think, hope, pray that, by 2023, when the Super Bowl comes, we’ll actually be making money this go-around,” Councilman Bart Turner said.
But Turner’s optimism was based on the city attracting more of the events that typically surround the big game. In 2015, Phoenix hosted the interactive NFL Experience along with a massive block party and Scottsdale was the site of several big-ticket shindigs, while Glendale hosted a free concert series.
“By 2023, we will have continued to add significantly to the number of hotel rooms, the number of restaurants, the number of retail stores and all the other attractions, such as Topgolf and others that are coming to the area,” he said.
“We will have increased, dramatically, the number of opportunities for visitors to the area to stay in Glendale, spend their money in Glendale and, therefore, to supply tax revenue to the city.”
Councilwoman Joyce Clark said she saw the potential benefit of another Super Bowl in the Valley based on the lessons she learned from the previous two.
“I think everybody has kind of buried the hatchet — the host committee, the city, the (Arizona) Cardinals — we all seem to be working well together and I believe that there are opportunities for the city of Glendale to participate in activities surrounding the Super Bowl that we did not enjoy during the last hosting,” she said.
