Hoosier Hospitality is the image Indianapolis wants to portray while hosting their first Super Bowl. The city has worked for years to land what is the Big Fish of sporting events. In May of 2008, it was announced that Indy was finally given this honor. Since that day (or years before depending on how much of this blog you read wink, wink) the city has worked diligently to host the most fan friendly game in Super Bowl history.

Recent preparations included everything from volunteers knitting Blue and White Super Scarves to building the flagship hotel the JW Marriot to purchasing and install $1,200 devices to prevent manhole covers from blowing off.

Looking further back, Indy has been working toward this week for half a century. In the 1960s Indianapolis was known as sleepy, stinky, and scary ‘nap’ town. People worked downtown in the government, finance and business sectors and then ‘got out of dodge’ as quickly as possible. For good reason as there was nothing to do downtown except dodge the droppings of the rampant pigeons.

Some city leaders got together and looked at the abundant problems in Indy and identified a few key assets: 1. Indy had several large areas that were either undeveloped or ripe for redevelopment. 2. Indy greatly benefits from a major pharmaceutical company interested in developing their own city, Eli Lilly. 3. Indiana boasts major high school sports athletes and fans, particularly in basketball. 4. The major entertainment event Indy did well and was known for internationally was the Indianapolis 500 (Indy car racing for those you not familiar with this international phenomenon that predates the NASCAR fad)

Together the mayor and his staff and the development corporation leaders with the Eli Lilly Company decided to hang their hats on sports or more specifically the sports fans in central Indiana. They invested strategically in bringing sporting events to the city with public and private funds literally following the “If you build it, they will come” philosophy. The city invested in sporting venues before they even had teams to play in them. They built Market Square Arena, the Hoosier Dome, Lucas Oil Stadium; Bankers Life Fieldhouse; a huge tennis stadium; IUPUI Natatorium; and Major Taylor Velodrome among others.

Each time, these were difficult decisions that garnered both support and criticism. However, each time the team came and fans supported them. Each addition to the city brought increasing acclaim as a great city to host sport events and a major influx of spending across the city.

This half a century of dedication to the sporting strategy is being tested this week. Indy is dedicated to laying out the red carpet to the NFL and sports fans. Happily, aside from a few hiccups with gusty winds and two stragglers on the zip line, the Circle City is shining.