Logo unveiled and preparations underway for return of Super Bowl to Glendale in 2023
As buzz builds for the Super Bowl in Los Angeles on Feb. 13, Arizona organizers unveiled the logo they'll use as they prepare to host Super Bowl 57 in 2023.
Former Arizona Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald will serve as executive chairman of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, the local organizing group that works with the NFL to plan the game and the string of events leading up to it.
Fitzgerald's involvement came about simply by asking him, Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said. “He’s been such a great community supporter and he is Mr. Football in Arizona.”
The committee, at a news conference in downtown Phoenix on Monday, touted the economic benefits of hosting the game, including a program to connect Arizona businesses with Super Bowl-related contracts.
The 2023 game will mark Arizona's fourth time hosting a Super Bowl. The first was in Tempe in 1996 and the rest have been in Glendale.
"In 2008, the Super Bowl attracted 90,000 out-of-state visitors to Arizona, generating an economic impact of $500 million," Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said. "In 2015, we built on that success with more than 120,000 people coming to Arizona for an economic impact of over $700 million. ... We're on a trajectory to attract more viewers, bring more people into our state and another boost to our already booming economy."
The committee, whose work is just getting underway, has not yet said how much it would look to raise from the public and private sector for Super Bowl LVII. The committee raised about $17 million for the Super Bowl in 2008 and more than $30 million when the game returned to Arizona in 2015.
When Arizona secured the 2023 game four years ago, Bidwill talked of events taking place throughout metro Phoenix. "Phoenix is going to have a lot of things going on in downtown, no doubt, but there also are going to be things going on around the rest of the Valley," he said in 2018.
Cities will rally for host committee attention and visitors
Valley cities will vie for attention from the committee so they can host some of the official events, such as the Super Bowl Live and NFL Experience, attracting visitors and the sales tax revenues that accompany them.
The host committee raises money from private businesses as well as local government entities to fund these events.
The more than 120,000 visitors who flocked to Arizona in 2015 contributed to the local economy and boosted tax revenues in downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale and Glendale's Westgate Entertainment District by almost 20% in January and February of that year.
Scottsdale has committed to a $1.2 million sponsorship agreement with the host committee as city leaders hope to lock a weeklong festival at its Civic Center Mall during the week of the Super Bowl.
Glendale has signed a sponsorship agreement and committed $1 million to the organization.
Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps said he expects the Super Bowl will generate at least $3 million in revenue and bring a lot of eyeballs to the city.
The suburb just west of Phoenix has grown since 2008 when its sports district was just getting off the ground.
"Part of our economic strategy is to build our sports entertainment district up. And with the new (water park) Crystal Lagoons that will be open this time a year from now, we've really tried to position ourselves to be a community that you come into, you've got good hotel rooms to select from and you really don't have to go anywhere else in the Valley," Phelps said.
Boosting local businesses
Host committee officials on Monday highlighted its Business Connect program, an initiative to provide workshops, networking and contract opportunities to diverse Arizona businesses.
Event-related companies, from providing flowers to barricades, can compete for Super Bowl-related contracts.
"The Business Connect Program supports minority businesses, women businesses, LGBTQ businesses and veteran businesses with professional development, networking and, again, opportunities to compete for Super Bowl contracts," host committee CEO Jay Parry said.
An application for the program, open to businesses that have operated in Arizona since February 2019, is available through Feb. 29 on the committee's website at azsuperbowl.com.
The Republic's Kent Somers contributed to this article.
Reach the reporter at rclo@arizonarepublic.com or at 480-267-4703. Follow her on Twitter @renataclo.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona unveils logo and Larry Fitzgerald's role in Super Bowl 2023
