http://youtu.be/EsxE8_wR1PM
Shouts of “history, history,” rang out from the room where the Minnesota Vikings’ delegation huddled together after the news was revealed.
Minneapolis, the supposed underdog city with the frigid temperatures in the winter, came out on top in the race for the Super Bowl in 2018 when the final announcement was made Tuesday afternoon.
Minneapolis beat out Indianapolis and New Orleans in a secret-ballot vote by NFL owners for Super Bowl LII.
“We’re very proud to host Super Bowl LII,” Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said. “It’ll be an exciting time. I know we’ll do a great job and we’ll be proud. Working very hard right now to build a world-class venue.”
New Orleans appeared to be the front-runner for the Super Bowl. The city was 10-for-10 in Super Bowl bids, and 2018 marks the tricentennial for the city of New Orleans.
Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl in 2012 and received high marks for hosting the event without any major problems.
Each city was allotted 15 minutes to give a presentation with all the bells and whistles and talk up why it deserved to host Super Bowl LII. Minneapolis’ presentation to the owners included video of Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and former coach Bud Grant.
Its theme was “Built for the Bold” and included a pledge from the city of St. Paul to build a new ice castle if a Super Bowl came to town. The decision came on the team owners’ fourth and final ballot. The first ballot didn’t receive the 75 percent supermajority.
Indianapolis was knocked out of the running on the second ballot, leaving New Orleans and Minneapolis nervously waiting to see which city would be called. There wasn’t a supermajority on the third ballot, sending the vote to the fourth ballot.
“All three bids were outstanding,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “They each did a terrific job presenting. I think the distinguishing factor was the stadium.”
The Vikings are scheduled to begin playing in a $1 billion stadium at the site of the old Metrodome in 2016. Minneapolis follows Dallas, San Francisco, Houston and Arizona as cities that were rewarded Super Bowls in the year of being eligible with a new stadium.
“The new stadium was absolutely the deciding factor,” Jay Cicero of the New Orleans bid committee said. “Any time that there is so much public support for a $1 billion stadium, the NFL owners are impressed. We did everything we were supposed to do, had a fantastic presentation. In the end, we think the stadium did it.”
Colts owner Jim Irsay said he will gladly offer any assistance to the Vikings in preparation for Super Bowl LII.
“We have a proven track record of not having a glitch,” he said. “I don’t know how much of our weather we can give, which was almost 60 degrees at game day. I don’t know if that’s possible. We’d help out any way we could in terms of advising them.”