Monday, October 17, 2005

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'Super Cities' line up events to lure Super Bowl visitors

NFL will spotlight 6 southeast Michigan towns in literature for the game and on the Internet.

By Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News

Super Bowl activities Several cities are hoping to draw Super Bowl visitors to their towns: • Troy: The city is looking into a dinner-like event featuring family entertainment, possibly held at Somerset Collection. • Ferndale: The annual blues festival is the week before the game. • Ann Arbor: Activities ranging from tours of Michigan Stadium to displays of 5-foot-long footballs are planned. Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

With the game nearly four months away, it's too early to say which teams have the best chance to reach the Super Bowl.

But it's not too soon to know whose cities will have bragging rights.

And it's not just Detroit, which hosts the football championship Feb 5. It's six other Michigan communities and Windsor, which have been dubbed "Super Cities" by the National Football League.

The designation means the cities -- Troy, Southfield, Rochester, Dearborn, Ferndale and Ann Arbor -- will have their Super Bowl-related events ballyhooed on the football game's Web site and literature.

"Each city has their own story to tell," said Ken Kettenbeil, spokesman of the Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Committee.

The cities hope publicity of their events will lure some of the out-of-towners visiting the region for the game. They want the visitors not only to attend the events but to sample some of their shops and restaurants as well.

Ferndale will hold its annual blues festival during the week leading up to the game. Troy may host a dinner-like event featuring family activities, also a week before the game. It's talking with Somerset Collection about the possibility of hosting the event.

Ann Arbor has tentatively scheduled 13 activities, ranging from tours of Michigan Stadium to the display of 5-foot-long footballs decorated by artists scattered around the city.

"We're going to do everything we can to make our region look great," said Michele Hodges, president of the Troy Chamber of Commerce.

The Super Bowl attracts an average of 125,000 out-of-towners and 3,000 journalists, and could bring in $300 million to the region, according to cities that have hosted games.

Detroit's neighbors hope some of those rubles spread to their confines, as well.

Ferndale will try to stretch their football connection with Detroit in creative ways, city officials said. The symbol of the annual blues festival has been a blue pig, which represents the piggy banks used to hold money raised by the event.

The festival's theme ties in nicely with the nickname of a football, which is pigskin, said Ferndale officials. Organizers also are flirting with the idea of holding a pig roast.

"With the Super Bowl in town, this is definitely a chance to get your name out there to the public," said Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director of the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority.

She said she hopes visitors like their visits so much they return to Ferndale on subsequent trips to Michigan.

You can reach Francis X. Donnelly at (313) 223-4186 or fdonnelly@ detnews.com.