DFW leaders want another chance to host a Super Bowl

With this year’s Super Bowl in Minneapolis right around the corner, football fans in North Texas are optimistically hoping for another Super Bowl in DFW.

It’s been seven years since the AT&T Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLV. The stadium was covered in ice and snow, so North Texans are eager for a do-over. Members of the SB 45 committee say we're destined for a comeback in the near future.

In 2011 Tony Fay was VP of communications for the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, which helped to raise millions of dollars for charity and lasting programs. He recalled the frigid day when North Texas was blanketed in ice and snow.

“Moved here when I was 12 years old,” he said. “I've never seen a week of weather like that.”

“The last week before the game, it was the perfect storm,” said Bill Lively, Super Bowl XLV Host Committee President. “But the year before was very invigorating and very satisfying to a lot of people throughout North Texas.”

However, the big game was overshadowed by problems. Snow slid off the roof of the stadium, injuring workers. And the reconfiguration of seats left nearly 3,000 ticket holders without a seat, sparking lawsuits that lingered until 2017.

Still, Fay believes AT&T Stadium is ready to re-play host.

“By the time a Super Bowl would be here, you're gonna have that whole entertainment district in Arlington finished,” he said.

The Arlington additions include a brand-new hotel and indoor baseball stadium equipped to host Super Bowl-related events that could keep bigger events surrounding the game more centralized rather than spread out between three cities like they were in 2011.

The Dallas Cowboys are eligible to bid to host again starting with the 2023 game. And despite being an older football stadium, it still boasts more suites than any other venue and offers much more club seating, which equals larger profits.

Lively believes it’s not a question of if, but when.

“AT&T Stadium is such a remarkable venue. I can't imagine it will not host another Super Bowl,” he said. “I just think the time has not occurred yet in the NFL's sequence of assigning the Bowl.”