Spotlight: 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee

Super Bowl XLVI – More Than Just a Game

With the Super Bowl fast approaching, Indiana is abuzz with excitement about the big game and all of the activities and events surrounding it.  The Super Bowl, however, has always been more than just a football game, and the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee has made sure of that. Several programs were developed correlating with the Super Bowl, including one with direct ties to Indiana Humanities. Learn more about NFL and Host Committee programs and events here.

Super Kids, Super Welcome

The Super Bowl Host Committee partnered with Indiana Humanities to produce a humanities-based Hoosier Hospitality project that involved more than 35,000 Indiana children from all 92 counties. On the Super Kids, Super Welcome cards, children wrote or drew their favorite things about Indiana. The cards will be placed in hotel rooms across Indianapolis to welcome visitors to Indiana.  View a sample coloring card. Hamilton County won the challenge to submit the most cards (outside of Marion County). President and CEO Keira Amstutz, along with Host Committee Chair of Statewide Outreach Mike Harmless, personally thanked and delivered goodie bags to cities and towns in Hamilton County.

46 for XLVI
Kurt Vonnegut looms over Massachusetts Avenue and Martin Luther King presides over his street.  In one of Indy’s biggest street and city art campaigns, 46 for XLVI has revitalized and rejuvenated once drab and dreary buildings, overpasses, and sidewalks with colorful and inviting murals to spruce up the city for the Super Bowl. To get a glimpse of some of the recently unveiled murals, just take a walk throughout downtown or visit www.artscouncilofindianapolis.org/murals .  

1^st & Green and 2,012 Trees by 2012
Undertaking a Super Bowl is no light burden for any city, especially in terms of environmental resources.  In an effort to make up for the influx of visitors and the amount of natural resources being used during the week of the game, the Host Committee implemented two different environmentally-conscious programs involving Indianapolis residents.  1^st & Green encourages businesses, schools, governmental officials, and residents to see who can save the most water and carbon before the start of the big game.  To date, Indianapolis has saved 1,394,921 pounds of carbon and 2,356,541 gallons of water, numbers that are so staggeringly large it’s almost hard to believe.  Click here to see the numbers for yourself. 

In addition to the 1^st & Green program, the Host Committee also had a goal of planting 2,012 trees on Indy’s near east-side.  To date, 2,876 trees have been planted. 

Legacy Project
Perhaps one of the longest planned humanitarian projects inspired by the Super Bowl, and even one of the main reasons that Indianapolis was chosen as the host city for the Big Game, was that of the Legacy Project – the renovation and revitalization of a conglomeration of 21neighborhoods known as the Near Eastside.  These neighborhoods, which had been falling into disrepair, were in desperate need of help and some new life.  Luckily, the NFL has always provided $1 million to the host city, and this year was no exception.  These funds, in addition to what had already been raised, are being used to completely update and invigorate the Near Eastside neighborhoods. Some new landscapes that can be seen are the Boner Community Center, Pogue’s Run Grocer, a health center, Indy’s first food co-op, and new lighting and sidewalks on the streets. 

Clearly, hosting the Super Bowl has given Indiana opportunities that it would not have had otherwise.  By implementing programs that have a far-reaching effect on Hoosiers across the state and from all walks of life, Indiana has turned the Super Bowl into much more than just a game. Learn more about NFL and Host Committee programs and events here.