Super Bowl 55 Host Committee and NFL unveil the Super Bowl Experience

The Super Bowl 55 host committee, the NFL and the City of Tampa unveiled the Super Bowl Experience and their 6 key social legacy pillars in a press conference today. Prior recorded videos were notably presented by NFL Executive Vice President, Peter O’Reilly, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Hall of Fame linebacker and Co-Chairman, Derrick Brooks, along with other community leaders from across the Tampa Bay area.

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The Host Committee unveiled the Super Bowl experience to be the first ever free event to the public, which spans 2.7 miles of Tampa’s Riverwalk. Main events will be held at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park as well as Julian B Lane Riverfront Park where fans will be able to take pictures with the Lombardi Trophy.

Among the key pillars that Derrick Brooks unveiled as part of the “Forever 55” social commitment, he was mainly passionate about the sixth pillar that he fought for to include. Brooks stated that the committee was only going to have 5 pillars signifying the five championships that Tampa has hosted, but he felt it was important to include a sixth pillar of systemic justice called, “Tampa Resolve.”

This is more than just words. This is an action plan. - Derrick Brooks

Health and wellness was another key pillar discussed at today’s presser. Peter O’Reilly of the NFL stressed that they will continue to work with their partners including the CDC.

We’re very confident in our protocols and we’re very focused on a Super Bowl and a season that end on February 7th and starts and ends as scheduled.

O’Reilly was asked about the potential of positive test cases occurring, leading up to and during the Super Bowl scheduled events:

As long as this virus is endemic to society, there will be positive tests. So it’s really around how we continue to react to that. We feel very confident on the football side of that....

We’ll learn a lot in the months ahead and we’re confident in our protocols and are laser focused on February 7.

Details were not provided by the NFL nor the Host Committee about what those protocols will look like exactly, however they did mention the Super Bowl Experience will be held completely outdoors for the first time ever, which could only be assumed to be one of the major protocols they referred to in order to mitigate the risk of spreading the virus.

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Tampa Mayor Jane Castor as well as the Hillsborough County Commissioner, Les Miller, spoke in their videos about the Buccaneers being the first team to be in the Super Bowl hosted by their own city. The Mayor also spoke of all the upgrades being done at Raymond James Stadium, as well as many other areas across the city.

We are glad to be bringing the Lombardi back to Tampa. - Mayor Jane Castor

Among the other videos presented, we got to see a message from Bryan and Darcie Glazer as well as Will Weatherford, Co-Chair of the host committee along with Rob Higgins, President/CEO of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl host committee. There was a resounding sense of optimism and showcase of all the hard work already put in, and continues to be, to ensure Tampa remains the hosting city and has a successful Super Bowl Experience for fans.