On May 22, 2007 NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XLV to North Texas (Arlington City).  With the celebration of the Super Bowl XLIV gone, the twelve-month stretch for Texas hosting the game already started.

·         $400 million Miami in 2007, same estimate for 2010;

·         $500 million Arizona in 2008;

·         2,000 new jobs;

·         65% of all Super Bowl attendees are corporate decision makers, most of the whom travel from out of town;

·         4,500 credential media

In order to help business owners to best educate and be prepare for this remarkable week the NFL works with a local “Host Committee”. Their mission is to engage in responsible planning and take appropriate action to ensure the readiness of North Texas to host the first Super Bowl in Cowboys Stadium.

Procurement Opportunities: Emerging Business Program

Program Overview

In 1994, the National Football League developed an initiative designed to promote Super Bowl-related business opportunities to small, minority- and women-owned businesses. 

The goal of the program is to maximize opportunities for local minority and women owned business to secure procurement contracts with:

·         NFL

·         NFL Contractors

·         NFL Sponsors

·         Host Committee

The participation in the program does not guarantee receipt of Super Bowl related contracts, it is the intention of the SFHC that interested minority and woman-owned businesses receive an education in the large event procurement process, an introduction to potential purchasing entities and exposure to other procurement opportunities. 

More than 1,000 local businesses have registered with the North Texas Host Committee, which is presided by Emmit Smith and Gina Puente-Brancato as Co-Chairs. Texas Instruments is the official sponsor for the Emerging Business Program.

Candidate Requirements:

·         At least 51% percent ownership by a US citizen who is also either a women-owned enterprise (WBE) or a minority-owned enterprise (MBE).  Also include Certified DBEs.  Recognized Certifying agencies:

o    DFW National Minority Supplier Development Council (DFWMSDC)

o    Women’s Business Council –Southwest (WBCSW)

o    North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency (NCTRCA)

o    HUB Statewide Program Certification

·         Current certification from one of the four Host Committee recognized certifying agencies

·         Goods or services outlined in the published Host Committee list

·         North Texas business address

The workshops will focus on linking the small business owners to the Super Bowl purchasing entities, and to help align business owners with right certifying local agencies.

The North Texas Host Committee held the first workshop in October 2009, in Fort Worth with a turnout of 600 businesses.

The next Emerging Business Program workshop to educate local minority- and women-owned businesses about Super Bowl vendor procurement opportunities will take place on February 25, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Cowboys Stadium.  The “Training Camp” will be a face to face opportunity with the NFL, NFL Contractors and the Host Committee to answer questions and offer first-hand knowledge of what to expect. Also offering advice will be experts from the banking and insurance industries. “Training Camp” will offer plenty of interaction during the networking and exhibit session. 
Workshop Online Registration: www.northtexassuperbowl.com/workshopregistration

The next workshop will be on April 6

While participation in the program does not guarantee receipt of Super Bowl XLV-related contracts, it is the intention of the NFL and North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee that interested minority- and women-owned businesses receive information on the Super Bowl procurement process and an introduction to potential purchasing entities. To fully understand the NFL’s procurement process and opportunities offered via the program, attendance at these events is highly recommended.

Deadlines

Businesses who wish to have an opportunity to earn service contracts must be registered online no later than March 31, 2010.

Lesson Learned from Houston Super Bowl

One of the mayor problematic for business interesting in doing business with the NFL during the Super Bowl XXXVIII celebrated in Houston was the Certification Process.  The Process takes from few weeks to over two month.  To prevent any inconvenient it is recommendable you make sure your certification is in order and won’t expire during the Super Bowl Program.   During the Houston experience the big number of companies looking to get certified made the process to become a long process with more than four month time frame.

Certification deadline will be May 31, 2010.

More information on the program: www.northtexassuperbowl.com/emergingbusiness

Frequent Questions & Answers: http://www.northtexassuperbowl.com/emergingbusiness/faqs  

Super Bowl in Social Networks:

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/NTSuperBowl

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NTSuperBowl

We invite all of you to get a discussion going.  Please submit your comments at the end of this article, Thanks.