APME National Credibility Roundtables Project

Florida-Times Union
(Jacksonville, FL)
Mike Clark -- December 2003
The Super Bowl will be a party unlike any Jax has seen before

Jacksonville recently celebrated its 10th anniversary as a pro football city.

While the economic impact of the Jacksonville Jaguars can be debated, one fact is clear: The 2005 Super Bowl is coming to Jacksonville because the Jaguars are here.

Those who have experienced a Super Bowl say Jacksonville has never seen anything like it. The Super Bowl is a "midwinter national holiday," NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said last week. And for one week in 2005, the nation's attention will be focused on Jacksonville.

Here is what that means:

• The Super Bowl probably will amount to the largest corporate convention ever hosted in Jacksonville.
• It will be the biggest sporting event ever staged here.
• It will rival the biggest single week of entertainment ever staged in Jacksonville.

Since a daily newspaper and a city are married, that means the newspaper will be on stage, too. Last week, the Times-Union announced it would be a major sponsor of the Super Bowl Host Committee, giving the newspaper the right to provide all official host committee printed products. And for months, Times-Union editors have been planning coverage. For instance, reporters covered the last Super Bowl in San Diego with Jacksonville's Super Bowl in mind. The Times-Union has hired a new reporter whose beat is covering Super Bowl preparations.

Recently, we held a reader forum at the Times-Union to discuss what sort of coverage readers expect. We also asked members of our e-mail Interactive Group to comment (if you'd like to join, send me an e-mail).

Comments can be summarized this way: Readers want a user's guide for taking advantage of all the activities and a survival guide for coping when they're not participating. Traffic, as always, is a big concern.

Here are some of the suggestions from readers:

• Ann Gipalo: How many of our tax dollars are going into the hosting of this event? Are there any companies coming from outside of Jacksonville to provide any kind of products or services for the event? Will Jacksonville companies get chances to bid first?
• Alton Yates: I believe the Super Bowl is much larger than the football game. I often ask, why is it that cities who have hosted the Super Bowl continually compete to have it return? The Super Bowl is an economic engine that starts running weeks before the game. It keeps running long after the city lifestyle, country, semi-rural, downtown, golf community or tennis community, all within close proximity to the city. How do we sell them to the Super Bowl audience?
• B.A. Forester: A definite transportation plan should be established for parking. I would love to see a "priority route" for all commercial traffic to get in, unload and get out quickly, not necessarily right up to the stadium, but close.
• Donna Braasch: Will cruise lines be hiring any locals? What celebrities will be here?
• Ron Ford: One crucial item I would love the T-U to feature is all the "good" that NFL pro football teams and the National Football League do on behalf of their communities: amounts donated to charities, NFL properties. How do they stack up? The Super Bowl game -- what does it generate? The PGA Tour does this quite well.

Phone: 359-4217. Mail: P.O. Box 1949, Jacksonville, FL 32231. Fax: 359-4478. Email: mike.clark@jacksonville.com.