L.A. Has No Team, but It Wants 1999 or 2000 Super Bowl

As a formality in preparing their Rose Bowl bid for the 1999 or 2000 Super Bowl, which must be submitted to the NFL on Sept. 11, organizers have received official Los Angeles city support and will seek similar City Council motions in Pasadena.

“The city has the opportunity to showcase Los Angeles to the world during the Super Bowl,” Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro said. “In addition to the economic benefits, the Super Bowl is a powerful symbol of a great city.”

Ferraro submitted a series of motions to put the city, which no longer has an NFL team, on record supporting a Super Bowl bid. The motions seek to commit Los Angeles to provide free police, fire, traffic control, planning and street decoration services.

The NFL, which will announce its Super Bowl sites in late October, presently demands such city resolutions before considering bids.

The Los Angeles area has hosted seven previous Super Bowls, but without a team in the marketplace there is some concern whether league owners will approve another one. NFL officials are known to favor both Miami and Los Angeles for the two Super Bowls presently being offered. Atlanta, Tampa and Arizona will also be submitting bids.

League spokesman Greg Aiello said having no professional team “doesn’t disqualify the city” from hosting a Super Bowl. However, he said, “the Super Bowl has never been played in a city that didn’t have an NFL team.”