NBC spot focuses on city’s Super Bowl legacy

Indianapolis’ shining moment in the Super Bowl spotlight came about four hours before kickoff, when NBC televised a short feature on the 2012 host city.

Pre-game show host Bob Costas marveled at our unseasonably warm February weather before introducing the piece that focused on what Indianapolis was doing to make the Super Bowl's impact last.
 
NBC mentioned the 1st and Green environmental initiative, near-east-side neighborhood revitalization project and the Simon Cancer Center’s Super Cure breast-tissue drive, among other efforts.

Like every host city, Indianapolis has tried to distinguish itself from past Super Bowl locales. Super Bowl Village and the Capitol Avenue zip line, for example, were intended to keep visitors busy downtown. Both those will disappear along with the massive Vince Lombardi Trophy adorning the JW Marriott exterior.

Some other efforts will last longer.

The Indianapolis Host Committee vowed to make this the “greenest” Super Bowl ever, planting more than 2,000 trees and creating the 1st and Green web portal where residents can report carbon- and water-saving actions.

On the near-east side, meanwhile, neighborhoods have seen more than $100 million in new streetscapes, housing renovations and retail development. And the $11.3 million Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center is home there to a fitness facility open to the public.

NBC’s story also mentioned Indianapolis’ impressive volunteer corps, an army of more than 8,000 who helped stage the big event—and countless others who participated in the “Super Scarves” program that provided handmade scarves to all of them.

Indianapolis also got a nod during the coin-toss ceremony, when the referee explained that one side of the coin was an homage to the “great city of Indianapolis.”

Once the game began, however, the city took a back seat to its honored guests: the New England Patriots and New York Giants.

The Giants won a nail-biter, 21-17.