Super Bowl Recap: 7 Things You May Not Know About Super Bowl 52

The Super Bowl has officially left Minneapolis. The celebrities left on their private planes and life has pretty much gone back to normal. Although there have been a few complaints here and here, overall, hosting the Super Bowl was an awesome experience. The Super Bowl brought fun concerts and events, interesting people, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We were also able to share the “Bold North” with thousands of people and the millions that watched on TV. We are a proud state full of nice people and I am really glad we got to share that with the world. Living downtown, the Super Bowl had a direct day-to-day impact on our lives. And as much as you prepare, there were a lot of things I did not expect about hosting the Super Bowl. 

7 Things You May Not Know About Super Bowl 52

1. Most of the festivities throughout the 10 day fan festival were free. I spent time down at Super Bowl Live two different times and it was totally free. One of my favorite free events was the Sota Pop exhibit. Local artists put together pop art exhibits which provided some very cool photo ops! See below!
2. Target designed the uniforms that approximately 10,000 volunteers wore. The jackets they wore were bright blue (just like my coat) and I had to let people know a few times that no, I am not a volunteer, but yes that is how you get to the skyway. 
3. The catchy nickname we gave ourselves (The Bold North) was to encourage visitors to come to Minnesota in February. Because who wants to do that? Kidding. The Dayton Brothers (the family behind Daytons, Target, and Askov Finlayson) are the ones that inspired it. 
4. The bars stayed open until 4am and people really partied! There were also more than 100 events across the city with lots of celebrities and lots of partying. 
5. Approximately 125,000 people came to Minneapolis from more than 50 miles away. That number is  close to a million if you count the Minnesotans that drove here for it. They are estimated to have spent over $300 million here! Yay economy!
6. The Super Bowl is not often held in a “winter market” but if it is, it has to be in an indoor stadium. The biggest risk of having the Super Bowl here was the weather. The city had to be prepped for a blizzard, which includes traffic patterns, clearing the roads, etc. 
7. We do winter better than anyone else, so you better believe it was full-on winter themed. Ice fishing? Check. Snowmobiling? Check. If people didn’t think we were crazy already, we showed them new levels last week. 

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