TAMPA, Fla. — The NFL and members of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee unveiled their vision for an all outdoor and free fan experience for the upcoming Super Bowl next February in Tampa.
The event will be produced by both the NFL and Tampa Bay host committee and will span 2.7 miles along the Tampa Riverwalk, including both Julian B. Lane Park and Curtis Hixon Park.
The NFL says the event, for the first time, will be completely free to the public and also entirely outdoors. It will feature live concerts, food and 60 family-friendly activities like flag football and athletic challenges. Player autographs, interactive games, NFL merchandise shopping and other food and entertainment will be spread out along the entire experience.
The NFL and host committee also announced “Forever 55” a $2 million commitment to creating lasting change in the Tampa Bay area. Bucs Hall-of-Famer Derrick Brooks laid out five key pillars of the initiative, including early childhood education, food insecurity, families, health & wellness, and environmental sustainability.
The project will include programs centered around supporting children in their first 1,000 days of life through early childhood education. As part of the effort to help deal with food insecurity, breakfast carts will be brought into local schools. And, there will be a partnership with TECO to reduce environmental waste.
The five pillars were meant to represent the five Super Bowls Tampa has hosted, but a sixth pillar was also added aiming to fight racism and systemic injustice. Derrick Brooks said a specific action plan would be created to address these issues, aiming to have a lasting impact on the Tampa Bay area for generations to come.
The host committee also added the word “Together” to its slogan, which was previously “Forward. Forever.” Rob Higgins of the Host Committee says Forward represents the direction the Tampa Bay area is heading, Forever represents the lasting impact Super Bowl LV will have on our community, and Together was added in to stress the importance of inclusivity and bringing the community together for common good.
Super Bowl LV is scheduled for Feb 7, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium.
"We're very confident in our protocols and are very focused on a Super Bowl and a season that ends on Feb. 7, and starts and ends as scheduled," said NFL Executive Vice President Peter O'Reilly. "That said, obviously, we are about being flexible and being adaptable. Everyone has had to live that over these recent months and we are no exception to that. So I have every confidence in this team...that if we need to be flexible and adaptable around anything, and I understand there are lots of questions around what that flexibility and adaptability means, but we can't answer those today, because we don't know what six months from now will hold...but we will have health and safety and the health of fans, our players, our partners and our community drive those decisions."
For the latest updates on the Super Bowl Experience and information on how to sign up for free tickets to the event, visit NFL.com/TampaSB. There you can sign up for alerts and follow the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee.
You can also keep up with the Tampa Bay 55 podcast by clicking here.