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By The Associated Press
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 12, 1996
PHOENIX - Arizona's bid for the 2000 Super Bowl faces additional competition from Tampa, where a half-cent sales tax increase was approved last week for building a new stadium that's supposed to be ready for the start of the 1998 season, decided Tuesday to seek the last Super Bowl of the 20th century.Phoenix, Atlanta and Los Angeles also plan to present bids for the bowl that will be awarded Oct. 30 in New Orleans.
With September 1998 the NFL deadline for hosting the 2000 bowl, Tampa had hesitated, even though there is to be a substantial financial penalty if the new stadium isn't ready.
''The league has told us they want us to bid on 2000,'' Leonard Levy, vice chairman of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Task Force, said Tuesday.
'We're not going to have all the answers on the stadium right away.''
Phoenix representatives weren't overly upset by the decision, though the bid committee chairman, Michael Welborn, noted the league deadline ''doesn't leave much room for error.''
David Radcliffe, president of the Phoenix and Valley of the Sun Convention & Visitors Bureau, also said he wasn't bothered by Tampa's going for the 2000 game.
''My gut feeling is (Tampa) might not be ready for 2000, but by bidding for 2000, it strengthens their position for another game. If I were them, I'd bid for 2000 as well.''
League owners might be unwilling to gamble that the Tampa stadium will be ready by their deadline. Even so, if Tampa doesn't win the 2000 bowl, it's in good position to get the next one. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue promised Tampa area residents another Super Bowl if they approved the tax for the new stadium.
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