by Josh Peter
USA TODAY SPORTS
PHOENIX – Mike Kennedy spoke to a group of Arizona attorneys last week and held up a thick binder few people outside the NFL get to see.
It’s the “NFL Super Bowl Host City Bid Specifications & Requirements,” given to viable and interested candidates.
Kennedy, former chairman of the Arizona Super Bowl host committee, said he used the bid book to drive home a point about hosting the big game.
It’s a business – competitive, costly and, it turns out, increasingly advantageous for the NFL.
“You have to comply,” Kennedy told USA TODAY Sports, “or make best efforts at complying with the specifications set forth.”
Be prepared to pay up, too.
Arizona, drawing from private and public funds, will spend about $30 million to host the 2015 Super Bowl, to be played Sunday in Glendale, Ariz. That’s a relative bargain. San Francisco, the host for the 50th Super Bowl next year in Santa Clara, Calif., expects to spend more than $50 million. Last year, New Jersey and New York spent a combined $70 million hosting the game that was played in East Rutherford, N.J.
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