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Talk of the bay

2009 Super Bowl bid could be last for a while

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published April 25, 2005

If National Football League owners don't pick Tampa next month to host the 2009 Super Bowl, it will be a long, long time before the game comes back to the Tampa Bay area.

Lots of teams want their communities to spring for new stadiums or expensive improvements, says Paul Catoe, executive director of the Tampa Bay Convention and Visitors Center. And the NFL is dangling the carrot of a hometown Super Bowl to get cities to pony up.

That means the next big game after 2009 probably won't be available until 2016 or 2017, Catoe told CVB members at a meeting last week. "If we do not prevail in 2009, we'll be pushed way, way down the list," he said.

NFL owners will pick between Tampa, Miami, Atlanta and Houston next month. Catoe thinks Atlanta is the toughest competitor, with Falcons owner Arthur Blank arguing he needs the promise of a Super Bowl to win a referendum for a multimillion upgrade of the Georgia Dome.

League staffers offered suggestions on how Tampa can bolster its bid when a delegation of 20 bigwigs goes to Washington, D.C., on May 24 or 25. Tongue firmly in cheek, Catoe said they even suggested the local group bring Vince Naimoli, the Devil Rays' tempestuous managing partner.

Rick Nafe, the team's vice president of stadium operations, rose to the bait. "That's funny," he said, "Atlanta suggested the same thing."

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 18:54:02]