NFL Will Consider Rose Bowl for Super Bowls in 1999, 2000

The NFL has officially notified Los Angeles that it will be one of five cities invited to bid for the Super Bowls to be played Jan. 31, 1999, and Jan. 30, 2000.

The NFL, impressed with the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission’s willingness to work with Rose Bowl officials in Pasadena, notified area officials in a letter that Los Angeles will be bidding against Tampa, Arizona, Atlanta and South Florida.

If Los Angeles is successful in getting one of those Super Bowls, it will be played in the Rose Bowl. Officials in Phoenix estimated a $200-million economic impact on the local community from the 1996 Super Bowl at Tempe’s Sun Devil Stadium.

The bidding process will begin in mid-May at a meeting with NFL officials and culminate in a formal presentation to NFL owners at their meetings in October.

Said Rick Welch, chairman of the L.A. Sports and Entertainment Commission, “Now we have to marshal all our resources in Los Angeles, and that’s the advantage we have: We have the resources here to make a very competitive bid. I think our chances are pretty good that we will get one of the two Super Bowls.”