The game will be played in a new Phoenix stadium instead.
By DAVID KARP
Published October 31, 2003
Tampa's leaders predicted Wednesday that the 2008 Super Bowl would be awarded to Arizona, not Tampa.
They were right.
Meeting in Chicago, the NFL owners decided to play football's championship game at a $335-million, retractable-roof stadium that should open outside Phoenix in 2006.
Arizona was a heavy favorite because of the new stadium. It also helped that the Arizona Cardinals agreed at the last minute to hold Monday night's game between the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers in Tempe, Ariz., after wildfires threatened the stadium in San Diego.
NFL owners applauded the Cardinals owner and his son at their meeting in Chicago for making the move, Bloomberg News reported.
Tampa was competing with Arizona and Washington, D.C., to hold the 2008 game. Leaders from each city gave 15-minute presentations to owners Thursday.
Former Army Gen. Tommy Franks, Outback Steakhouse CEO Chris Sullivan and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio traveled to Chicago to make Tampa's pitch.
They returned Thursday on a private jet owned by Outback Steakhouse.
Tampa's leaders saw only positives in the experience.
"I think any time the NFL asks us to bid on a Super Bowl, that means they are still thinking about us," said Karen Brand, vice president of marketing at the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, which organized the bid.
"I think we went up there and made our best presentation and told them we are able and willing to hold another Super Bowl when it heads our way," Brand said.
Tampa may have been hurt by the fact that two other Florida cities will host Super Bowls in the next five years.
This year's Super Bowl will be in Houston. Jacksonville will host the game in 2005, and Miami gets it in 2007.
Tampa leaders were hoping that NFL owners might make a decision on the 2009 Super Bowl, but NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue told the owners that wouldn't happen. New York is expected to compete for the 2009 game.
