by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Two years from today, almost 100,000 people are going to start arriving in Jacksonville for the 2005 Super Bowl. Let’s see — it’s about 70 degrees, there’s not a cloud in the sky and the beer is already cold. Kind of sounds like what everyone left in San Diego last weekend.
While there’s no way to know if the weather for the 2005 Super Bowl is going to mirror this weekend’s, it’s a safe bet it’ll be close. Sure, it could be colder, but it could also be even nicer. Golfers and beachgoers alike will be happy.
What can the world — yes, the world will be here — expect when they get to Jacksonville? According to Super Bowl Host Committee Director of Communications, Heather Surface, the answer is something very similar to what San Diego had to offer. But even better.
“Downtown San Diego is on San Diego Bay, so there’s a waterway through the heart of the city,” said Surface. “Folks I talked to said Jacksonville is where San Diego was 15 or so years ago. Both were known as sleepy little Navy towns.”
San Diego has grown up. Last weekend’s game was its third Super Bowl — it hosted the others in 1988 and 1998 — but may be the last. The National Football League has said that if San Diego doesn’t replace Qualcomm Stadium, it won’t get another game.
Jacksonville doesn’t need a new stadium. By game time — a little after 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2005 — Alltel Stadium will be filled. Surface said San Diego was a great experience and an opportunity to better understand the whole event, but she thinks Jacksonville has advantages other host cities will never be able to mimic. Forget that the use of cruise ships is an experiment with no prototype, Jacksonville’s compact urban core and stadium location may prove to be assets rather than liabilities.
“The situation in San Diego was very different,” said Surface. “Their stadium is not downtown, it’s not in the heart of where all the festivities were held. The stadium is about 15 miles from the downtown hotels. In Jacksonville, there will be minimal traffic and logistics issues. You will be able to walk or take a water taxi or trolley to just about anywhere.”
After being involved in her third Super Bowl — she also went to New Orleans last year and Tampa the year before — Surface is starting to grasp the magnitude of the game. The same can’t be said about a vast majority of the people in Jacksonville.
“You name it, every major media outlet in the world will be in Jacksonville the first week of February in 2005,” said Surface.
MTV will set up for a week as will ESPN. Both will broadcast live from Jacksonville several times a day, all week. So will VH-1, BET, CNN, the major commercial networks and many, many others, some of whom will speak little to no English.
“‘Good Morning America’ will be here as well as over 400 international journalists,” said Surface. “That is what impressed me the most, the international media — and many of them stopped by our booth. I did a radio interview with a Spanish station. Most of them were impressed with Jacksonville and intrigued by the cruise ships. I think they are looking forward to coming to Jacksonville.”
There will also be thousands of curious folks with money to spend. And, plenty of stars from the entertainment and sports worlds simply enjoying the Super Bowl atmosphere.
“It’s so much more than a football game and that’s why it’s so important to do it right,” said Surface. “The opportunity for Jacksonville is huge not just because we are hosting the football game, but we will be introduced to the world on Super Bowl Sunday.”