LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

Phillip Jones of the Dallas CVB has seen up close the impact a Super Bowl brings. That’s why he was quick to get his organization involved in XLV.

By Hy Cotten

Nobody had to sing Phillip Jones a love song of Super Bowls past before he had the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau pony up a $1 million sponsorship for the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.

Just prior to becoming the DCVB’s President & CEO in November 2003, Jones was the state of Louisiana’s Secretary for the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, 1995-2003. During that span, New Orleans hosted Super Bowls XXXI and XXXVI, the 31st and 36th Classics.

That’s all the sweet music Phillip Jones needed. He had also been a Louisiana resident as the state staged its nine total Super Bowls.

“Every year we hosted a Super Bowl we saw a bump of about a million visitors to the state the next year,” Jones said. “They’re not easy to put on, but they pay off.

“There’s nothing else like it in the world, frankly. That’s why when presented with the opportunity, I jumped at it. It wasn’t a tough sale for me.”

The Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau is one of what eventually will be 15 $1 million title sponsors to the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee. And Jones, the DCVB’s President & CEO, serves on the Host Committee’s Board of Directors.

Jones says this is the first $1 million sponsorship by the DCVB since he took over. The organization also donated $1 million to host a huge international trade show in Dallas in 2000, prior to Jones’ arrival.

The Super Bowl was a no-brainer to Jones.

“One, this is the first time Dallas has ever helped host a Super Bowl,” he said. “And two, we were in a position financially where we recognized one of the best ways for Dallas to reach a maximum number of potential visitors is by hosting an event of this magnitude. Having a Super Bowl with millions of people around the world watching is for us a great public relations opportunity that’s well worth the million-dollar investment.”

The NFL requires cities bidding on the game to guarantee the availability of sufficient hotel space. The North Texas Host Committee guaranteed 24,000 rooms to help clinch the bid.

“From a hotel perspective and the revenue perspective, generated by hotel stays and tax revenues, it’s a win for the city of Dallas and more than makes up for our million-dollar investment over the long run.”

And, as Jones pointed out, if they’re staying in Dallas, they’re eating in local restaurants, shopping in the area, and, as he put it, “leaving a lot of money behind in our local economy.”

Jones admits he knew very little about Dallas or North Texas before joining the Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“When I got here,” he said, “I was blown away by the transformation of the city and the region. I’ve been a huge proponent of the regional effort since my first day with the bureau. The Super Bowl is a culmination of that regional approach and shows how well it can work if we all get behind a concept or idea like a Super Bowl.”

He added, “I think the sky’s the limit for
us in North Texas, considering the billions of dollars in new development, throughout not only downtown Dallas but in Fort Worth and North Texas — all of the new attractions, hotels, restaurants, arts district expansions, the new Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, the Trinity River development in both Dallas and Fort Worth, as well as all the new venues that are opening up across the region.

“No other region in America is undergoing the rapid transformation and renaissance that we’re experiencing in North Texas.”

It pays to have progressive thinkers involved, and those who do their homework. Having seen the impact of Super Bowls on his native Louisiana, Jones was well ahead of the game.