Indianapolis loses out on hosting Super Bowl XLV to Dallas

INDIANAPOLIS – Colts owner Jim Irsay wants another shot at the Super Bowl ­– and not just repeating as NFL champions.\nAfter Indianapolis narrowly lost its bid Tuesday to host the 2011 Super Bowl, Irsay said to count him in if city officials decide to make another push for the league’s most prestigious game.\n“That’s what we have to start talking about in the next couple of weeks,” Irsay said. “I don’t know where the mayor is going to come out on this. I know he was very disappointed today. But if we’re going forward, I’m up for doing whatever I can.”\nMayor Bart Peterson said that he would consider bidding on a future game. First, though, he wanted to find out why the city lost the 17-15 vote during the owners’ meeting in Nashville, Tenn.\nIrsay said the issue came down partly to seating capacity. Dallas’ new stadium is scheduled to open in 2009 and could hold up to 100,000 for the Super Bowl, while Lucas Oil Stadium has a potential capacity of 70,000. The Colts’ new stadium is expected to open in 2008.\nDallas’ larger stadium also is likely to include more suites, which could increase revenue. But Irsay thought that sent the wrong message to small-market teams that want to host future Super Bowls.\nIndianapolis’ bid included a video from David Letterman and had support from Indianapolis Motor Speedway chief Tony George, Pacers owner Herb Simon and Jeff Smulyan, the CEO of Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp. and former owner of the Seattle Mariners.\n“As Tony (Dungy) likes to say, we’re disappointed but not dispirited,” Irsay said. “I know our city and our state deserve this kind of award. I just don’t know when that might be.”\nThe Indianapolis bid highlighted the central location of the city’s stadium and its success in hosting major events such as the Indy 500, the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four and world championships in swimming and basketball.\nWhile Irsay said owners called the Indianapolis bid a pleasant surprise and that many wanted the city to bid again, it was little comfort to disappointed state and city officials.\n“So much work has been done and so much effort has been put into this that it would seem as if we’d be in a position to go forward again,” Peterson said. “I think we need to step back and analyze what happened, try to learn a little bit more, talk to the NFL, try to get a sense of whether we’d be more likely to be successful in the future if we’d bid again.”\nThe city’s bid committee spent the past four months raising $25 million in private money to host the game, including $2.5 million from Eli Lilly & Co. and $1 million from Irsay and Forrest Lucas, whose company paid for the naming rights to the stadium.\nGov. Mitch Daniels praised the effort.\n“Like the Super Bowl itself, second place doesn’t feel very good,” he said in a statement. “It was well worth the effort and Mayor Peterson and his team did an absolutely spectacular job representing our state.”\nIrsay said he hoped the city would pursue the game again.\n“No, it wasn’t a surprise like getting punched in the face,” he said. “But we want to go forward.”