Video: Jets-Giants Super Bowl would be great for fans…but not so great for NJ, state official tells Morristown audience

JETS-GIANTS SUPER BOWL IN NJ? It's a dream for fans, but maybe a nightmare for the state, according to Wayne Hasenbalg of the NJ Sports & Exposition Authority. Photo by Kevin Coughlin for MorristownGreen.com
JETS-GIANTS SUPER BOWL IN NJ? It's a dream for fans, but maybe a nightmare for the state, according to Wayne Hasenbalg of the NJ Sports & Exposition Authority. Photo by Kevin Coughlin for MorristownGreen.com
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While a Jets-Giants Super Bowl in the Meadowlands next year would be “a really cool thing” for local fans, it would not be so hot for the state, the president of the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority told a Morristown audience on Wednesday.

JETS-GIANTS SUPER BOWL IN NJ?  It's a dream for fans, but maybe a nightmare for the state, according to Wayne Hasenbalg of the NJ Sports & Exposition Authority. Photo by Kevin Coughlin for MorristownGreen.com
JETS-GIANTS SUPER BOWL IN NJ? It's a dream for fans, but maybe a nightmare for the state, according to Wayne Hasenbalg of the NJ Sports & Exposition Authority. Photo by Kevin Coughlin for MorristownGreen.com

“The best thing for the state is to have the teams that live farthest away from us be in the Super Bowl,”  said Wayne Hasenbalg, responding to a question at the annual meeting of the Morris County Tourism Bureau.

Scheduled for Feb. 2, 2014, at MetLife Stadium, Super Bowl XLVIII is anticipated to pump $550 million into the economies of New Jersey and New York, he said.

Morris County hopes to reap the benefits of hosting media hordes in its backyard, according to Leslie Bensley, executive director of the Morris tourism bureau.

“We’re very lucky because one of two teams, the AFC team, to be specific, is going to be practicing in Florham Park at the Jets facility,” said Leslie, who spent last week at Super Bowl festivities in New Orleans.

“Maybe we will see a bus or two of the players coming down our main streets. But it brings attention to Morris County, because the scope of the Super Bowl is so large and so important that the world’s media is going to cover every aspect of it. Having just returned from New Orleans, I saw first-hand what 5,200 media can do to a town like New Orleans. So it’s very, very important for us to be ready to welcome guests, and to show Morristown’s and Morris County’s enthusiasm about the Super Bowl in 2014.”

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Other big tourism events are looming, too. Morris County’s fifth annual “Revolutionary Times Weekend”  is moving from April to the Fourth of July, and the National Park Service will move its traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence from Morristown’s Ford Mansion to the historic Morristown Green. The town of Morristown will cap that event by sponsoring fireworks over Sunrise Lake at Lewis Morris Park, Leslie said.

The Park Service also is planning special events to mark this year’s 80th anniversary of the Morristown National Historical Park, the nation’s first such park.  It attracts 350,000 visitors annually to four sites in Greater Morristown, said Justin Monetti of the Park Service.

In September, Morristown will host the third annual Gran Fondo NJ, the state’s largest cycling event. Organizer Marty Epstein of Marty’s Reliable Cycle predicts 2,500 riders this time.

“It’s not a race,” Marty explained. It’s a long ride to promote fitness and show off  “some of the best bicycling roads in the country.” As a bonus, he said, the Gran Fondo already has raised $250,000–directly and indirectly–for area charities. Former world-class racer George Hincapie will serve as the 2013 grand marshal.

Tourism officials are gearing up, meanwhile, for New Jersey’s 350th anniversary next year. Expect everything from parties to road races to “best of NJ” lists (movies, songs, entertainers, books) touting the Garden State as a place of innovation, diversity and liberty, said Sara Cureton, executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission and the New Jersey Cultural Trust.

“We want everybody to be involved in the celebration and take advantage of it,” Sara said.

More than 60 members and guests of the Morris tourism bureau gathered at the Mayo Performing Arts Center for the meeting, which was postponed last fall because of a member’s sudden illness.  Dignitaries included state Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco (R-25th Dist.), Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur and Morristown Councilwoman Rebecca Feldman.  A new promotional video was unveiled by the bureau.

As for that mythical Jets-Giants Super Bowl, the downsides don’t end with lost revenue from out-of-state fans. Traffic would be an issue, said Wayne Hasenbalg of the sports authority.  Many parking areas at MetLife Stadium will be closed to accommodate Super Bowl activities, necessitating use of mass transit. That could be a tough sell to local fans, said the Morris County resident, emphasizing that he is a Jets season ticket holder.

This also will be the first outdoor Super Bowl in a wintry location, which could pose challenges. But the biggest one may involve sharing the limelight–and revenues–with the Big Apple, Wayne said.

“We’re competing with New York City–and working with them,” he said.

Sure, Manhattan has Broadway shows and some of the finest museums and restaurants. But don’t count out Jersey.

“We can offer more affordable rates in hotels,” Wayne said.

 

 

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