Houston hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium following the 2003 NFL season.
The Houston Super Bowl Bid Committee has submitted its preliminary bid to the National Football League. The NFL confirmed receipt of Houston's bid prior to today's submission deadline.
In accordance with the NFL's bid procedures, cities are required to submit preliminary bids for review by NFL staff prior to final bids, which are due to NFL owners by May 9. In addition to Houston's 163-page bid, the official documents also included the NFL-required bid questionnaire and eight three-ring binders which contained exhibits, contracts and letters of commitment.
"Our bid committee and members of our Super Bowl Bid Working Committee did an outstanding job of preparing our preliminary bid," said John L. Nau, III, Chairman of the Houston Super Bowl Bid Committee. "We look forward to the NFL staff's review and will bolster our final commitment to NFL owners at the appropriate time."
Nau, president and CEO of Silver Eagle Distributors, L.P., served as the national Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation under President George W. Bush beginning in 2001. He also serves as the Chairman of the Texas Historical Commission under the Governor of Texas, a position he has held since 1995.
"We are incredibly fortunate to have John Nau step us as the chairman of our bid committee," Texans president Jamey Rootes said. "John has a wonderful reputation here in Houston and nationally in his work with the President, and he's going to provide really tremendous leadership to the effort. He's jumped in with both feet and has already been involved with a number of discussions with us as we prepare to make final presentations to the National Football League in the next couple of months."
Rootes notes that Houston has the advantage of having done it before, hosting the widely successful Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium four years ago. Many observers consider that game, in which the New England Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers 32-29 on a last-second field goal, to be among the greatest Super Bowls of all time.
"Every piece of feedback that we got relative to the Super Bowl in 2004 was unilaterally positive – not only the game day experience, but all of the activities around," Rootes said. "We have really comfortable weather during that time of year, so you can get outdoors, you can play golf and do all of the things that people like to do at Super Bowl experiences.
"We've got two major airports here to make it easy to get in and out of Houston. We've got a wonderful hotel and hospitality community here in Houston. Nobody hosts big-time parties better than this community."
Also submitting bids by the April 1 deadline for Super Bowl XLVI were the cities of Phoenix and Indianapolis. The second and final bid submissions are due by May 9, during NFL meetings in New York. In late May, league owners will vote to decide the winning location.
"You've got two other cities that are going to be putting their best foot forward, too, so there's no clear-cut winner at this point, but we certainly think we have a lot of advantages to sell to the NFL," Rootes said. "I think one of the greatest things about Houston is our focus on hospitality, and we've heard that over and over: When people come to Houston, everyone here is so friendly, is so accommodating. The people make Houston the special place that it is."
