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Pedestrian zones.
Giant block party.
New railway stations.
Zip lines.
Floating night clubs.
An aircraft carrier.
Yeah, the Miami Dolphins were going big with their bid for Super Bowl L or LI. Clearly the team wanted to land the biggest of the Big Games, bringing the 50th anniversary Super Bowl - in the team's 50th anniversary year - back to South Florida.
Unfortunately, it's all going to be for nothing. Without the renovations to Sun Life Stadium that died in the State House of Representatives last week, Miami has nearly no chance to beat out a brand new stadium in Santa Clara (Super Bowl L) or Reliant Stadium in Houston (Super Bowl LI).
Things are so bleak, Rodney Barreto, the Chairman of the South Florida Super Bowl bid committee had to be corrected during his presentation. He several times used "would have been included" when describing things that are in the plan for during Super Bowl week.
"It will be, right? Not would have been, it will be," Nicki Grossman, one of the committee members, said.
At least someone is trying to be optimistic.
The Dolphins plan, as they laid it out today after turning in the final proposal, would turn the area from the Intercontinental Hotel past Bicentennial Park into "Super Bowl Park." Biscayne Boulevard would be partially closed, allowing pedestrian traffic. The area would include exhibits, stages, boardwalks, and other entertainment, with floating nightclubs in the bay.
A zip line would be installed over Bayfront Marina.
And, there would be an aircraft carrier anchored just off Super Bowl Park, with a full length football field on the deck. Games would be played on the carrier.
Yet, it will all come down to the lack of a renovation of Sun Life Stadium. "Clearly it would have helped us if we were able to include a modernized Sun Life Stadium in the bid, given the competition," Dolphins CEO Mike Deesaid during the presentation. "But this is an extraordinary bid in every aspect."
Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers also revealed their plans for their Super Bowl L bid. The game would be played at the newly named Levi's Stadium, which will open this year. The naming deal, announced today, puts Levi's on the Santa Clara stadium for the next 20-years at a price of $220 million.
As for the Super Bowl L plans themselves, the Silicon Valley Mercury News reports tied into game will be guaranteed tee times at Pebble Beach and an "NFL Experience" park at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Super Bowl Main Street will be along San Francisco's Embarcadero Drive, on San Francisco Bay's waterfront. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt also announced an unprecedented partnership among all of the silicon valley companies, including Yahoo! and Apple, to create "the most innovative Super Bowl ever."
The 49ers' presentations were, of course, delivered to the 32 NFL owners on iPads.
The NFL owners will decide on the host site for Super Bowl L, the 50th game to be held in February 2016, during their meeting on May 22. Whichever of the two sites, Santa Clara or Miami, do not win the game will then go against Houston for Super Bowl LI in 2017. Miami is currently tied with New Orleans for hosting the most Super Bowls, with 10 each. The San Francisco Bay area has held the title game once (1985 - Super Bowl XIX in Stanford), and Houston has hosted the game twice (1974 - Super Bowl VIII as the Dolphins won their second consecutive Super Bowl, and 2004 - Super Bowl XXXVIII).