by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
When Jacksonville was awarded the 2005 Super Bowl in November 2000, one of the main selling points was that the entire First Coast area could handle the massive influx of football fans and corporate tag alongs. That means the area had to guarantee there would be 17,500 rooms available from Feb. 3-6, 2005 specifically for National Football League purposes. About 6,000 of those rooms will come in the form of cruise ships that will dock from downtown to Blount Island.
That left over 11,000 rooms and, at the time, local hotel and motel general managers said, “We’re in.”
Today, indifference is the key word. Many hotels haven’t signed the NFL-provided contract that assures the NFL they will have rooms available the week of the game. That indifference has, quite frankly, left Super Bowl organizers puzzled. While it’s not a make-or-break issue right now, the matter is one Super Bowl Host Committee president and COO Mike Kelly and the rest of the committee would like to resolve soon.
“Mike has said this is not a unique situation, but having said that, it’s important,” said Heather Surface, director of communication for the Host Committee. “We have got to have a place to put the NFL’s guests and that’s the bottom line. It’s of critical importance.”
Kelly says there’s no date etched in stone for hotels to come on board, but, the longer the issue drags on the worse it looks in the eyes of the NFL. There is, however, one magic date and that’s September 2004, when the NFL starts assigning groups to hotels. In order to be able to assign those groups, the NFL needs to know who’s in and how many rooms are available.
“There’s not a drop dead deadline and the NFL has not implied there is,” said Kelly. “We hope to have this resolved by the end of the calendar year or even late January when people are thinking about the Super Bowl again.”
“Absolutely, we’re concerned,” said Jim Steeg, senior vice president of special events for the NFL. “Part of the commitment by the community is over 18,000 hotel rooms. Obviously, if they can’t live up to the commitment, we will have to do something.
“Detroit has returned 98 percent of their contracts and their game is the year after Jacksonville’s,” said Steeg, adding the hotel commitment is usually in place at the time a city is awarded the game.
Steeg said Kelly, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver and others are supposed to be in New York City next month to meet with the NFL’s Super Bowl officials.
“There’s no real deadline, but if they don’t have the hotel commitment when they come, I’m not sure,” he said. “Hopefully, they will walk in and tell us it’s done. I can’t think of any city that hasn’t had the hotel commitment by this point. The hotels have to realize the seriousness of the matter. There’s really no excuse for not getting it done and that’s the bottom line.”
Steeg also said in 10 days the NFL is taking leaders of 30 corporations on a two-day cruise out of Miami for the sole purpose of selling Jacksonville and the cruise-ships-as-hotels idea.
“At this point, that’s going to be hard to do,” said Steeg.
Locally, Super Bowl officials understand the seriousness of the situation. “I’m not alarmed, but there are few things more important than accommodations,” said Kelly.
Kelly says he has two theories about the hotels and their apparent trepidation. One, he’s not sure his committee has done a comprehensive job of explaining the need for a commitment and, two, the NFL contract is long, complicated and, to an extent, intimidating to many smaller hotel general managers that may have never dealt with an event as large in scope as the Super Bowl.
“We need to do a much better job of explaining to the hotels,” said Kelly. “We thought it would be easier than this. We are optimistic it will work out and we will have to work harder. I understand the contract is complicated and that’s what I’m wondering, that’s what I assume now. Many of them have not seen that kind of agreement. They are used to one page with their letterhead at the top. Basically, all the contract asks is that they hold their inventory until 2004 and let the NFL make assignments.”
Kelly said the Host Committee is working with the Jacksonville & the Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau and the general managers of downtown’s four big hotels — the Adam’s Mark, Omni, Radisson Riverwalk and Hilton — to help spread the word among smaller, periphery hotels that there is a sense of urgency. At some point, Kelly said, he and a representative from the NFL may have to meet with all the hotels not on board to answer questions and allay hesitations.
“That’s certainly what comes out of the Hotel & Motel Association leadership meetings,” said Kelly. “The other GMs can definitely help. They understand the concept and we can use their persuasion as almost peer influence. A lot of them have called and pledged their help.”
Adam’s Mark general manager Don Dickhens said he and his downtown comrades haven’t approached the local hotels about their non-participation yet, but will soon.
“The GMs of the four hotels downtown all get together once a month. I think we meet next week and that will be the subject that comes up,” said Dickhens. “We’ll tell them they need to sign up and show their support.”
Dickhens thinks many of the GMs may be holding out in an effort to get away with charging exorbitant rates the week of the game. While Florida law prohibits price gouging — the hotels may not charge more than 10 percent above their rack rate — many hotels will still attempt to get as much as they can for rooms. Dickhens said that logic may backfire, especially if enough hotels hold out and create a room shortage unsatisfactory to the NFL. If that situation were to arise, there is the distinct possibility the league could look into moving the game.
“That’s certainly the point of talking to them,” said Dickhens. “If the game gets taken from Jacksonville, none of us will make anything.”