Minnesota Leaders Already Planning For 2018 Super Bowl

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Three years from now, Minneapolis will be hosting what's likely the biggest crowd it's ever seen. The 2018 Super Bowl will be played at the new Vikings stadium.

This year's game is being played Sunday in a much warmer place: Arizona. But several of the people leading Minnesota's Super Bowl Committee are there taking notes.

Yes, the game of course will be played in the Vikings new digs, but Nicollet Mall will also be a main vain for activity. The name for this center of activities hasn't been nailed down yet, but it will be Super Bowl central.

In 1,099 days this sculpture of steel will play host to Super Bowl 52.

Kristen Montag with Meet Minneapolis said they are spreading the word that the cold weather makes the town a hot spot.

"We have the infrastructure in place to make it work and I think people will come here and they'll experience a different type of super bowl than they're having in Arizona but they're still going to have a great time," Montag said.

Meet Minneapolis staff, along with the Super Bowl committee, hopes to showcase that by introducing visitors to cross-country skiing and the winter carnival in St. Paul.  The Minneapolis Convention Center will host an indoor NFL experience and the soon-to-be renovated Nicollet Mall will be Super Bowl central.

"They suggested we could have ice skating on Nicollet Mall, there could be snow sculptures, there could be any number of winter activities," Montag said.

And for businesses along this strip that big game is a big deal

"There's going to be parades and festivities and I'm sure ESPN crews doing their shows on this corner, everybody's really excited on this street," Montag said.

And that's the plan, because one thing that doesn't freeze in a Minnesota winter is the fun.

"The beauty of it is that Minnesota does winter well. We intend to showcase the best of winter for the guests who tend to come up for the 2018 Super Bowl," Montag said.

Maureen Bausch, chair of the Minneapolis Super Bowl, said they are learning a lot about transportation and pre-event venues, and just about how much fun to expect.

There are already 19,000 rooms blocked for that week in hotels all over the Twin Cities metro and there will likely be more.