Super Bowl XLV will be played in Arlington in 2011, the National
Football League announced Tuesday.
The NFL owns, produces, and controls the country’s largest annual
sporting event, and their vote on Tuesday is a win for the North
Texas Region, said Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck.
Cluck leads the city in thanking the North Texas Super Bowl
Bidding Committee for their hard work.
“This is an extremely exciting time for North Texas after six months
of hard work,” the Mayor said Tuesday. “This was a highly
competitive bidding process. Winning Super Bowl XLV brings enormous
economic impact and worldwide prestige to the North Texas Region.”
The City of Arlington is proud to be the new home of the Dallas
Cowboys, which will host Super Bowl game day festivities in 2011.
The stadium will have a capacity of 100,000 fans when it opens in
2009.
Throughout the region, cities such as Dallas, Fort Worth,
Grapevine and Irving will host a variety of other Super Bowl related
events and activities, as determined by the NFL.
“With the arrival of the Super Bowl in 2011, everyone benefits,”
the Mayor said.
Earlier this month, Senate Bill 1424 cleared the last legislative
hurdle. The bill eliminates a population bracket in the law that
would have prevented Arlington from accessing the Other Events Trust
Fund. The fund was created to provide cities and counties with money
to attract special events such as the Super Bowl, Pan American
Games, the Olympics, All-Star Games and other types of large special
events. Senate Bill 1424 was authored by Kim Brimer (R-Fort Worth)
and Chris Harris (R-Arlington)
and sponsored in the House by Todd Smith (R-Bedford), Paula
Hightower-Pierson (D-Arlington), Diane Patrick (R-Arlington), and
Bill Zedler (R-Arlington).
