When Will Charlotte Make a Super Bowl Bid?

CHARLOTTE, NC — When will Charlotte get a seat at the table, and a shot at hosting a Super Bowl?

NFL owners are holding their annual meeting in the QC, and handing out super bowl bids. Atlanta, Miami and LA were announced on Tuesday.

“It’s an extraordinary event that just takes a very large city with a lot of hotel rooms and a lot of facilities,” says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Goodell addressed Charlotte’s chances to eventually host a Super Bowl on Tuesday at the owners meeting in Ballantyne, after announcing the host cities for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

“I think infrastructure is probably the most significant issue,” says the commissioner.

For NFL teams, it’s all about getting to the Super Bowl, and the Panthers did that last season. For NFL cities, it’s about getting one, and Charlotte still has some work to do for that to happen.

The competition between NFL cities is cut throat. Larger markets have the inside track, but Jacksonville and Indianapolis have both hosted recently.

Erik Spanberg with the Charlotte Business Journal thinks the QC will get its shot in the next 10 years.

“Toward the end of that 10 would be my guess,” says Spanberg. “Because I think Charlotte is getting to that point, but it still needs some more luxury hotel rooms for example.”

It would take around 20-thousand of those luxury rooms, a number Charlotte has yet to meet.

It’s part of a long list of NFL requirements for a host city.
All the ticket revenue, tax exemptions, 35,000 free parking spots and free law enforcement.
But the impact would be invaluable.

“It’s taking your city to hundreds of countries, to tens of millions of viewers, and you simply couldn’t afford to buy that much advertising time as a city,” says Spanberg. “So I still think it’s worth it.”

Houston will host the 2017 Super Bowl. Minneapolis will be the host city in 2018.