Indianapolis hosts the annual NFL Scouting Combine. Earlier this month, the city hosted its first Super Bowl.
And Indy wants another one.
“There will be people within the next couple years or so, I think, that would be looking at putting something back in, or at least determining when we would be doing that sort of thing,” mayor Greg Ballard said Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
Before Super Bowl week, it was believed Indianapolis got the game as a one-shot quid pro quo for building a new stadium, a concept that has brought the Super Bowl in past years to Houston, Minneapolis, Detroit (twice, once for each new stadium), and Jacksonville. But once everyone got to Indy, it became obvious that it shouldn’t be a one-shot deal.
“I think we really embraced the game and embraced the entire concept of the Super Bowl, with so many people coming together, different committees all over for four years,” Ballard said. “I think it was a big hit.”
He’s right. Everyone was friendly and helpful, and there was a genuine exuberance regarding the presence of the game and all the activities surrounding it. In sharp contrast, I sensed little or no civic pride or enthusiasm in Dallas last year. The attitude seemed to be that, if the Cowboys aren’t playing in the game, we don’t care about it.
The folks in Indy cared. And it showed. And Indy shouldn’t just be a once-per-decade destination; it should have a spot in the regular rotation.