More than a decade ago, football fans ziplined over the rooftops of downtown Indianapolis.
Fans thronged an open-air beer garden on Georgia Street to hear the electronic duo LMFAO and other groups play free concerts during the 10-day Super Bowl Village before Lucas Oil Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. They got to watch ESPN's Mike & Mike record their radio show live, and got to brush shoulders with celebrities like Mike Ditka and the Miller High Life Delivery Guy from the television ads.
Madonna, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. and CeeLo Green performed during a halftime show of a game in which the New York Giants' push rush stifled the dynastic New England Patriots. Nielsen estimated more than half the country's population watched the game.
Indiana could end up hosting its second-ever Super Bowl if the Bears end up deciding to build a stadium in Northwest Indiana and aren't just touting a Region site as leverage to prod Illinois lawmakers into passing incentives for a new stadium at the Arlington Heights site the team paid $200 million for. The Bears touted the prospect of hosting a Super Bowl as one of the benefits of moving away from the 102-year-old Soldier Field on Chicago's Museum Campus.
While most Super Bowls take place in Miami and New Orleans, the National Football League has a long-time pattern of hosting Super Bowls in cities that have built a new stadium, including Indianapolis, Detroit, Las Vegas, Inglewood, Santa Clara, Glendale and Atlanta. Every new NFL stadium built has hosted a new stadium within four years, since 2006.
The NFL is even looking at scheduling the Big Game in Nashville, which is planning $1.2 billion in stadium renovations.
Hosting the country's biggest sporting event means an influx of visitors, celebrities and press, giving the host city worldwide exposure and making it a focus of national media attention for more than a week.
"Hosting a Super Bowl would bring National attention to Northwest Indiana and give us an opportunity to show off all of the attractions that we have here," South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Phil Taillon said. "It would also put us in a better position to bring bigger sports tournaments and conventions to several of our sportsplexes and sports fields, as well as create opportunities for new entertainment development in all of our communities."
Ball State University estimated that hosting the Super Bowl brought $365 million in economic impact to Indianapolis, including $6.1 million on hotels and $15.8 million on retail. It shone an international spotlight on Indianapolis and is credited with helping land Indy future events like the March Madness Final Four, Big Ten Football Championship, NBA All-Star Game and an upcoming WrestleMania.
The Bears have been looking at a site south of Wolf Lake in Hammond, which is a fraction of the size of Indianapolis. Northwest Indiana lacks as large and walkable a downtown as Indy had to host the Super Bowl Village or the hotel capacity, though Merrillville's White Lodging had to build the "Big Blue" JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis to ensure it had enough hotel rooms to meet the NFL's hosting criteria.
Super Bowl visitors, high-rollers who typically have to pay between $2,500 and $7,000 for a ticket, might be more likely to stay, dine and spend time in Chicago before the Big Game if it were to come to the Region, but that does not mean it would not have a catalytic effect on Northwest Indiana, Taillon said.
"Indianapolis wasn't always as developed as it is today. After bringing in professional sports franchises, Indianapolis used that as a catalyst to add new hotels, restaurants, retail, etc., which is why they continue to grow and thrive today," he said. "Bringing the Super Bowl to Northwest Indiana would be the beginning of a major positive economic trajectory change for the Region."
A record 127.7 million people watched the Super Bowl last year, which was the most-watched event in the United States in 2025. Every year, countless people gather for watch parties in living rooms and bars for the Big Game, as well as the halftime show, the commercials and a fear of missing out on the focal point of the cultural zeitgeist. The eyes of the world would fall on Northwest Indiana, said Heather Ennis, Northwest Indiana Forum president and CEO.
"The impact of a Super Bowl in Northwest Indiana would be astounding," Ennis said. “Host cities generally see hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact. Just as importantly, an increase in tourism, international recognition, civic pride and amenity development. I don't think it's fair to look at this as a zero-sum game, much like when the city of Chicago made a bid for the Olympics, Northwest Indiana knew it would see significant benefit from that opportunity. I think the same can be said for a Super Bowl."
Thousands of visitors, many wealthy corporate executives, would descend on Northwest Indiana's restaurants, casinos, breweries, attractions and hotels, Ennis said. It would provide an opportunity to showcase Northwest Indiana to potential future investors, raising the Region's profile.
"There would be some people who stay downtown and some who would want to be closer to the action in Northwest Indiana," she said. "It is also important to remember that none of this happens overnight; the investment opportunity would come alongside this type of development, which would continue to enhance the assets in Northwest Indiana."
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