Broncos, City Of Denver Have Applied With NFL For Super Bowl
DENVER (CBS4) - The Super Bowl is getting closer -- maybe closer to Denver. So here's a good question: can Denver get the Super Bowl? John Elway puts faith in the fans.
"Well the Denver Broncos and the city have given the NFL a bid application for 2019, 2020," Visit Denver's Tim Litherland said.
First they have to ask if they can bid with that application, according to Litherland.
"And so based on the success of what happens in New Jersey here in February, the NFL will decide, 'Do we include Denver?' " he said.
The New York-New Jersey area bowl is setting up to be a real test. The NFL's owners waived the so-called 50 degree rule to agree to the Super Bowl in the New York-New Jersey area.
"If you could have it in New York, you could have it here. New York is freezing," a Broncos fan said.
"That seems to be the hurdle that most people are afraid of," Litherland said.
Cold weather cities are lining up if things go well this year. Then the sell is on. Denver has plenty of hotel rooms and has done big events, even at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, like the Democratic National Convention.
"It was a wild success," Litherland said.
Denver may have a reach, but Denver and Colorado have selling points and the desire.
Dr. Woody Eckard is a professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver. He looked at the potential for the Super Bowl in Denver and what it would do economically for the city.
"The likely economic impact is a lot less than the estimates that you often see, particularly those that come from the NFL or the other sporting promoters," Eckard said.
The NFL estimates that the benefit of the current Super Bowl is around $600 billion. But independent economic estimates over the years have found that those NFL estimates are exaggerated substantially. However, a Super Bowl in Denver would definitely be a benefit to the city and state.
