by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
In just over three years Jacksonville will host the 2005 Super Bowl — the world’s biggest, yearly event; a billion dollar extravaganza that has little to do with deciding pro football’s best team and a lot do with the 100 some-odd events and parties surrounding the game.
What was once a one-day, three-hour event (the first Super Bowl wasn’t even a sellout and wasn’t called the “Super Bowl”) is now a week-long affair complete with be-seen breakfasts, celebrity golf tournaments and nightly big-name entertainment.
This year, New Orleans is hosting the game. And, in three years Jacksonville will have its turn.
To better understand what is expected and what to expect, the Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee is sending a contingent of locals to the game. Well, they may not be going to the game itself — tickets are expensive and hard to come by — but they are going to New Orleans to add to the book they started last year when the game was in Tampa.
“Each year we send a different delegation with a unique purpose,” said Heather Surface, chief of communications for the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission.
Last year, representatives from the air and port authorities made the trip to Tampa. This year, the list is varied and doesn’t focus on any particular group or entity, although the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office — given the events of Sept. 11 and the heightened security at not only this year’s Super Bowl, but in all facets of daily life — will have three representatives in New Orleans.
Pat Duncan, formerly of the JEDC and now the director of hospitality for the Host Committee, will be in New Orleans. When the game is here in 2005, Duncan will be partially responsible for assuring the necessary cruise ships are in place. He won’t have to worry about that in New Orleans, but other areas of hospitality interest him.
“They don’t have cruise ships, but I am meeting with people that handle housing for the Super Bowl,” said Duncan, adding that one of the things that interests him the most is how New Orleans handles the NFL’s room block requirement. “The NFL requires 17,000 rooms for their clients and their needs.”
Duncan will also meet with representatives from the New Orleans Visitors & Convention Bureau.
“I’ll make comparisons and find out what they do right,” said Duncan. “I’ll also meet with two companies, DMI and PGI, and talk to them about fan housing and individual reservations.”
Duncan explained that DMI and PGI couldn’t take action until they knew the outcome of Sunday’s conference championship games, won by the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots. The job for DMI and PGI is to now inform fans and corporate executives in those cities as to their lodging options. Both DMI and PGI pre-purchase blocks of hotel rooms and then essentially resell them to Super Bowl fans.
City Council member Gwen Yates will be in New Orleans for a variety of reasons. In addition to meeting with her political counterparts, Yates will also meet with members of the New Orleans CVB and its equivalent of the Tourist and Development Council.
“I know that the Super Bowl is one of the biggest things that will happen to Jacksonville,” said Yates, who is the finance chairman for the TDC. “I want to make sure that what we experience is not just all the events around game day, but all of the events all over the community. Every community has something to do with the game. I’m going to look and see what they do in New Orleans. I’m going to talk to my counterpart and see what they do to make it successful.”
Two areas in particular will draw plenty of interest from Yates. As chairman of the Public Health & Safety Committee, she will observe how New Orleans handles the masses that invade the city for the game. (This is the ninth Super Bowl for New Orleans.)
Yates will also spend plenty of time at the NFL’s Youth Education Town. Yates’ contention is that while the 2005 game will have a profound, immediate impact on Jacksonville both financially and from a public relations perspective, her main concern is the game’s long lasting effect on the community as a whole.
“The Youth Education Town is an NFL thing they do in each city and it lasts long after the game is over,” said Yates, who is making her second trip to New Orleans. “In Jacksonville, the Youth Education Town will have benefited kids long after the game is gone.
“As chair of finance for the Tourist and Development Council, I’ll look at it from that perspective. This is a great opportunity for Jacksonville and we need to do it right. I don’t want people to come here and say this is the world’s biggest cocktail party. I want them to come here and see that this is a great place to live and a great place to bring their company.”
The rest of the Jacksonville contingent:
Sharon Ashton, mayor’s office executive staff liaison
Mike Blaylock, JTA
Mike Bouda, JEDC, sports and entertainment
Jacquie Gibbs, City’s procurement division
Quillie Jones, JEDC, special advisor
Assistant Chief Alton Kelly, JSO
Al Kinard, BHR Engineering (formerly of the JEDC)
Capt. Murray Kramer, Jacksonville Fire & Rescue
Shelly Marino, Host Committee
Teresa O’Donnell Price, City’s special events department
Roz Phillips, JEDC, director of business development services
Lt. Huck Ross, JSO
Sgt. Jim Suber, JSO
Mike Sullivan, JEDC, director of sports & entertainment
Mike Weinstein, Host Committee executive director