Host committee chairman David Rousseau: 2020 Super Bowl ‘has a nice ring to it’
Feb 10, 2015, 4:19 PM | Updated: 4:19 pm
Super Bowl XLIX was awarded to Glendale, Ariz. back in October of 2011.
After more than three years of preparation, it’s hard to believe that the game has come and gone.
By all accounts, the Phoenix metropolitan area did a wonderful job in its hosting duties — the third time it has served in that role in the last 19 years.
Now the question becomes, when will the Valley host another Super Bowl?
“We’ve been saying internally — not that anyone is listening — that 2020 has a nice ring to it,” Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee Chairman David Rousseau told Doug and Wolf Tuesday as part of Newsmakers Week on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “The game is already allotted to San Francisco next year for Super Bowl 50, 51 is in Houston and then Minneapolis has 52 in 2018, so the first opportunity and open date is 2019.
“There are new stadiums afoot, potentially in Los Angeles, so I think 2020 would be the first time there would be a serious conversation.”
Of course, a lot of factors would have to come to fruition before a Valley group could make a bid to host Super Bowl LIV in 2020.
“It has everything to do with our owner, Michael Bidwill, and his interest and putting a stake in the ground with his fellow owners, obviously,” Rousseau explained. “We’d love to everything we can to make that possible.”
Phoenix received favorable reviews as a host city, despite some inclement weather leading up to the game itself. The goal for the host committee in future Valley Super Bowls is to continue to improve the experience for all. But that all starts with dollar signs.
“Let’s figure out a way to do it that has a predictable funding source as opposed to the fatigue that undoubtedly is waiting out there amongst the business community,” Rousseau said.
