SUPER BOWL XLV RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER

By Andrea Ahles, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 11:10am

FORT WORTH — Brace yourself: The buildup to Super Bowl XLV is just around the corner.

More than 60 events will be hosted in the year preceding the Super Bowl at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, beginning with a concert at Bass Hall in Fort Worth in March 2010.

"We are planning an entire year of buildup, a crescendo to February 2011," said Bill Lively, chief executive of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, at a news media luncheon Tuesday in the Fort Worth Club.

After the Bass Hall concert, a concert will be held at the Dallas Performing Arts Center and then at the new stadium in Arlington.

Lively said that the venues and some performers of international caliber have been booked for the concerts, but he would not reveal who they are.

"I wish I could get Faith Hill for all three concerts," committee Chairman Roger Staubach, a country−music fan, joked with reporters.

Staubach said the host committee wants to get most of the fundraising and logistical planning for the Super Bowl completed well in advance so it can spend 2010 holding a series of concerts and community events. So far, the committee has secured nine $1 million sponsors, and Staubach said he expects the committee will meet its goal to have 15 of these sponsors by June. He added that he has scheduled five meetings in the next few weeks where he hopes to bring a few more corporations and individuals on board as donors.

Cowtown hosts

The committee also announced that the National Football League has designated Fort Worth as host city for the American Football Conference champions, and Dallas will be host city for the NFC champions. In January, it was announced that the AFC team will stay at the new Omni Fort Worth hotel and practice at Texas Christian University, and the NFC team will stay at the Omni Mandalay in Irving and practice at the Dallas Cowboys' Valley Ranch facility.

The NFL has not announced any other venues for Super Bowl−related events like the headquarters Hotel or the NFL Experience. However, NFL executive Frank Supovitz will be in the area next week to meet with local mayors and to tour the stadium, Lively said.

Looking ahead

During the luncheon, Staubach was joined by Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and all agreed that if North Texas puts on a good game in 2011, the region will be awarded more Super Bowls.

"I’m so confident that with the capacity that we’ve got and with the region we're in, in the center of the country and with the facility that we got, we can do what Troy just alluded to, and that is a place where we can have Super Bowls," Jones said.