Phoenix excited for Super Bowl visitors

The last time Phoenix hosted the Super Bowl was back in 1996. Phoenix has changed a lot since then and can’t wait to show off its new digs for the NFL’s biggest game.

The huge development and expansion was kicked off with the launch of a new state-of-the-art stadium at the University of Phoenix in Glendale, just west of Phoenix. The president of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, Bob Sullivan, is all too familiar with the pressure to not only put on the world’s largest neighborhood party, but to also charm the NFL to come back.

Fact of the matter is, 150,000 visitors are expected to travel to Phoenix for the Super Bowl, bringing in an anticipated $200 million into the local economy. The committee as a result is urging a “come early, stay late” campaign to push tourists to see the sights, have fun, spend money, and come back and do it all over again.

An interactive theme park will be part of the events leading up to the Super Bowl. The NFL will hold the NFL Experience next to the stadium January 26-27 and January 31-February 2. Some of the activities fans can choose from: throwing passes at targets, scoring touchdowns while tethered to a bungee, and recording voice-over commentaries of some memorable NFL plays. A few NFL players will be signing autographs at a youth football clinic at Copper Canyon High School in Glendale on January 27.

Phoenix will temporarily be known as the hottest place to be seen from now until the big game. The city has generally been thought of as a place to retire, sit quietly along one of the 200-plus golf courses. Visitors from all over and of all ages, however, will find a lively, red-hot nightlife in the clubs and bars of Scottsdale or in the ASU local hangouts in Tempe.

Tourists will be able to experience the rural and urban in less than a day. Visit chic, artsy enclaves, four-star restaurants, landscapes filled with cacti—the plural word for cactus if you didn’t already know—and take in the rich history of American Indian and Old West cultures.