EDITOR'S NOTE: Multimedia journalist Kristen Lago spoke with the NFL’s executive director of live event operations and the head of live event production and operations on how they are planning for SoFi to host Super Bowl 56. Click the arrow above to watch the video.
LOS ANGELES (CNS) — With the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood just a month away, a panel of officials representing the NFL, the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, SoFi Stadium and more spoke Thursday about preparations for the event and encouraged Angelenos to take advantage of what the big game can offer the community.
Super Bowl LVI, which will be the first NFL championship game to be hosted in Los Angeles in almost 30 years, is set to be played Feb. 13 at the region's state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020 as the centerpiece of the Hollywood Park project.
Those who don't have tickets have the opportunity to win a pair through a sweepstakes hosted by the Los Angeles Rams. People can enter for a chance to win the tickets through Feb. 1 at therams.com/sbsweeps. Winners will be announced the next day.
Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission President and CEO Kathryn Schloessman on Thursday encouraged fans to attend the Super Bowl Experience presented by Lowe's, an interactive football-themed attraction that will fill the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
"The Super Bowl Experience, which is downtown, is an event that everybody can participate in, they can bring their kids -- kids under 12 are free -- and enjoy that and participate in that," Schloessman said
The Super Bowl Experience will be at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Feb. 5-6 and 10-12. People can also win tickets to during the Rams sweepstakes, or by visiting https://bit.ly/3qodxon.
The NFL's Senior Director of Event Operations, Katie Keenan, said the NFL is working with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to make sure all of the events are executed safely amid the Omicron surge and within the county's established COVID-19 guidelines.
The panel also spoke about the economic benefits the games would bring to the region.
Super Bowl LVI could deliver as much as $477.5 million to the Los Angeles economy, including thousands of new job opportunities in the event- production and hospitality sector, plus major contracts for local businesses, according to projections released on Oct. 21.
"This is going to be such an incredible infusion for our local businesses. You go back to 2019, tourism has become one of the biggest drivers of our local economy, with over 544,000 Angelenos employed in tourism-related careers, and believe it or not, in 2019 visitors generated $38 billion for our local businesses," said Adam Burke, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.
Schloessman credited the NFL's Super Bowl LVI Business Connect Program for its success giving local businesses a chance to compete for contracts related to the game.
The program selected 225 L.A.-based businesses owned by minorities, women, LGBTQ+ community members and veterans to participate in workshops, training and networking opportunities with NFL representatives to compete for contracts.
"You don't want a big event like a Super Bowl coming in and bringing all out-of-town vendors, what's the point? We want our local businesses getting business from this event," Schloessman said.
She also highlighted the NFL's Super Bowl LVI Legacy Program, which gave grants to 56 local, grassroots organizations and nonprofits making an impact in underserved Los Angeles-area communities.
The "Champions Live Here" program's selected organizations include Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Alliance for Children's Rights, Angel CitySports, Food Forward, Homeboy Industries, Kedren Health, L.A. Conservation Corps, Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, Sisters of Watts, Urban Scholar Academy and more.
Each organization receive a $10,000 grant and a professionally produced video spotlighting their organization. Six of the chosen organizations also received an additional $40,000 for a total grant award of $50,000.