>> horrow: the super bowl, america's number-one sporting event. it's more than just a game, generating billions of dollars in economic activity. we'll talk with some of the key behind-the-scenes business players behind this mega-event, from the leading architect of super bowl stadiums to the man who runs the super bowl for the nfl. i'm rick horrow. join me for "beyond the scoreboard: behind the scenes at the super bowl." this is "nightly business report" "nightly business report" is made possible by:

this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> horrow: hello. i'm rick horrow of nbr's "beyond the scoreboard." every february, one championship game gets the undivided attention of the american public and millions of fans worldwide. of course, i'm talking about the super bowl. a recent super bowl holds the record as the most-watched program in american tv history. and super sunday has become a key date for advertisers and retailers, driving sales of everything from pizza to tv sets. but while the players and coaches get most of the glory, it takes an army of people working behind the scenes to make the super bowl happen and succeed. and in this special program,

we'll talk with some of the most important people on the business side of the super bowl to find out how they make it come together, usually without a hitch. this is cowboys stadium in dallas, texas, the site of super bowl xlv. it may be quiet now, but imagine the scene in just a few days, as nearly a hundred thousand fans fill the stands of this spectacular venue. they'll be glued to the action on this giant screen and the field below as the top teams in the afc and nfc go head to head for the championship. it will be the first time that's ever happened in dallas. and for one man in particular-- dallas cowboys owner and general manager jerry jones-- having the super bowl here is truly a dream come true. in an interview shortly after the stadium's completion, jones told me that bringing the super

bowl to north texas was always his plan, and one of the main reasons he fought for construction of this $1.2 billion complex. taxpayers had to cover most of that cost, but jones had no doubt that, down the road, this stadium would be seen as a wise investment. >> tax money, you're not subsidizing. i know you say you're blind, you're not subsidizing somebody that shouldn't be subsidized. you're priming the club, getting their intoxication with sports or their team, getting it on the move. and they'll usually spend multiples of anything that taxpayers committed. now, anybody in business knows that's called leverage and knows how smart that is. in this particular case the city of arlington, all the citizens, contributed $325 million, to a billion that will cost a billion 200 million, and create a not of

not only valuable building, but a lot of revenue for the city. >> that 325 million, 20-year bonding perfect, how many super bowls do you think you'll have in 20 years? >> well, more than i've had the last 20. >> fair. and the impact is significant in one it makes up for the investment almost? >> yes. obviously, a super bowl does have the attention of the eyes of the toward, the event itself. but the credibility that it gives not only the team but the venue is unquestionable. i've often been asked, what's it worth to win a super bowl, and the numbers are staggering because they create and add to a tradition that you want to build. and it's misplaced, i know that it is. but they do ticker tape parade in this country for war heros, astronauts, and people that win ballgames. >> should the great teachers be there, the great creaters of jobs be there, you bet.

but they're not. and the facts are that that kind of interest can be used to really help not only communities but help a society build. and we all have known for a left years that sports is a respite for hard times. but right now i hope this stadium in its own little way is a little engine of some kind of stimulus program. it certainly has been a stimulus here in arlington while it's being built. but i think it will be a stimulus and be an example of how it's really going to get us out of the economics and sell our way out. and we'll have to do it with people that believe there's a tomorrow and a good tomorrow. if they do, they'll make financial commitments, borrow some money, hire some people, and here we go. >>. so, as jerry jones noted, the city that gets a super bowl stands to make big bucks-- perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars-- in extra business.

that's why competition between cities to host the game is so intense. and the battle to win a super bowl often begins right here in the stadium architect's office. this is the dallas architectural firm of hks, which designed cowboys stadium. from the earliest stage in the process, the super bowl was an important consideration for the stadium's chief designer, bryan trube. >> our first piece of work was really about how to utilize the site. we had a large site, we wanted to create major plazas in front of the building to accept crowds for special events like the super bowl. and then what we really wanted to do is make sure that those plaza areas outside the building are destinations in and of themselves. >> now that his concepts have gone off the drawing board and become reality, let's go with bryan to see if cowboys stadium is now ready for its first super bowl. bryan, this is your baby and you should be proud of it.

a lot of publicity around the cowboys, but this is designed for other megaevents in mind, right? >> right. every other building is usually designed around regular season football and then they figure out how to do other special events. the big innovation here and in indianapolis is that we started thinking about the special event. how do we stage a super bowl that's the best ever, how do we stage an olympics that's the best ever, how do we stage an ncaa mens final four that's the best ever, designed around those events. that's the reason the super bowl here will be in a left different ways almost for every patron and over the top, even by comparison to all prior super bowls. really an over the top experience. >> bryan, you need 100,000 or more seats for a super bowl. how do you accommodate the flexibility in these buildings? >> there's two big ways, number one we design the concourses for about 20% extra capacity. secondly we developed the end zone platforms that you see where we can take the population

from 75,000 for a regular season football event and still make it look perfectly designed for that place seats in there and accommodate up to 100,000 for a super bowl or an olympics, and the stadium still looks custom designed and built for those particular events, even though there's a 30,000 seat swing between the regular season football and a super bowl. >> so we're up where normally you'll call this the nose bleed level with the chief seats. but there are no cheap seats here, and certainly with this view this is first class. >> that was the intent. we wanted to put more seats on the side lines than most of the buildings have because that makes for a better experience. that means we have seats in an upper deck and what we did to compensate for that, give the upper deck seats the same incredible view that the lower deck seats have, through the world's large e h. d. video board. so you have great high deaf nigs -- definition delivery of the game,

72 tall, 168 foot long video board, so no obstructed views, everybody gets a great view of the action. >> a lot of people don't watch the game, they watch it on the scoreboard. >> exactly, because it really has redefined what viewing an nfl event is like in a stadium. this is the control room for all the video messages that happen in the bowl. the linear boards, the 72-foot high by 168 foot long video board, and so this room really drives all the entertainment that shows up in the bowl and contributes to the experience of being at the game, as totally unique to anything you could ever get at home. >> just make it feel like the living room, but with the world's largest have board that anybody has ever seen. >> that's right, and it's worked great. >> that's the glamorous part of the house back there, that's what the public sees, that's what's going on. but this is where it's all happening. this is the back of the house. tell us what's happening here. >> well really this is where you make or break any major event. in fact, people can get through here, service personnel and

everything else, really can make it an event. but what's really special back here is the back bone that you see, this is the most sophisticated digital back bone that drives all the video content in the building, and that's literally what's running in the upper level of the whole event level or service level. >> this really makes the place right here. >> does it, and it's what's allowing us to make this really the first all digital building. >> just looks like pipes, but there's a lot more than that here. >> that's right. >> while most architectural >> horrow: while most architectural firms might be content to design a single super bowl stadium, hks already has a second one to its credit. it's lucas oil stadium in indianapolis, site of super bowl xlvi in 2012. like the cowboys stadium, it also features a retractable roof, and can be quickly converted to basketball and other uses. indianapolis colts owner jim irsay says getting the super bowl at lucas oil stadium was critical, not just for the colts, but for all teams in

smaller markets. those teams have been losing out to larger cities in money made from at-home events, and irsay told me that really hurts their bottom line. that's because, under the nfl's system of revenue sharing, those funds don't have be split with other teams. >> the unshared revenue, the local revenue, that disparity which used to be 3% in 1970, is now up to 20%. and that's a real concern for the indianapoliss, the green bays, other teams in the smaller markets. so we had to get that new stadium. still ahead, he's got a tough job-- making sure the super bowl runs on-time, on-budget and glitch-free. we'll talk with nfl vice president frank supovitz. sure, dallas is excited about

having the super bowl played there for the first time. but when you're a repeat host city, the pressure is on to do things even bigger and better the next time around. that's certainly been true of miami, which has hosted ten super bowls, more than any other city. but good past performance doesn't give miami an automatic leg up in the competition for future super bowls. and no one knows that better than steve ross. as the owner of the miami dolphins, he hosted super bowl xliv right here in this stadium. what does it take to pull off a successful super bowl in a city? >> well, it's got to be a city where people really want to come people want to come for a party. and i don't think there's anyplace better than south florida to have a super bowl experience. >> so steve, pulling off a super bowl is different from a world series because the world series involves the home teams, and the super bowl of course doesn't. tell us what the difference really means to you. >> we really are trying to, as the miami dolphins, really extend the brand to the nfl and we take it seriously and it's

also great knowing how important it is for an economic standpoint to south florida. so it's really, we take it on as if it would be a home game for us. >> what about the government authorities and community leaders, are they true partners as well in this equation? >> well, the community and the public sector really realizes the importance of the super bowls. they have their own host committee, randy beretto really heads it's up here in miami, he's done a great job, they raised a lot of mope, put on a lot of events throughout the whole week. it really shows off south florida to the world. >> so what would you say based on hindsight of has year's your most difficult task of putting on these games? >> i mean it's all logistics, you draw so many people to the super bowl. people are coming to miami and they may not be going to the game, but they're here for the activities of the super bowl, the excitement is incredible. >> what do you say to the cynics who would argue that hotel rooms and restaurants are already occupied and you don't bring much new money?

>> i think first of all the people that come to the game spend pretty good. so if you ask the hotel industry, the restaurant owners, they really look forward to it, the big backers of it, and they really want it to come back the south florida, to south florida as often as they can. >> what does it take for miami to get future super bowls? >> today they are giving those cities that have really enhanced their sometimes, new stadiums or renovated their sometimes, they're rewarding them for that by granting them super bowls. and we hope that miami, we hope to really enhance our stadium here and really bring south florida the super bowls at least twice every 10 years. >> miami has many super bowls because of the weather, the location and put on a party. but the game will go to the tundra at the meadow land, is that a one-time deal or a longer term thing? >> new york, i certainly am very prejudiced towards new york. assuming they're going to give

it a shot to see if it really works in february, i don't know and a half will be the case, but i think right now rewarding new york for building a new stadium, that state of the art stadium. it's really tremendous. after that we'll see how it goes. you know, i actually believe that to be, there will be a lot more super bowls in sthra than in new york if we really renovate our stadium. >> while steve ross tried to play it down, the big question >> horrow: while steve ross tried to play it down, the big question mark hanging over the 2014 super bowl is the weather. meadowland's stadium, located just outside new york city in new jersey, has no roof, and that could mean the first super bowl ever played in the snow. but the owner of the new york jets, woody johnson, doesn't seem worried. he told me that, regardless of the weather, the game will provide a big boost to his region. >> besides the five to 600 million in economic benefit, it will be, i mean this is interesting, it will be the largest event that we've ever had in new york or new jersey, ever.

since the founding of the states. so that's pretty big. i think it's a source of pride for the people in the area. it certainly is a source of pride for the stadium. it lets, the building itself now will have hosted, after 2014, one of the most major events in the world. >> horrow: we've seen how the stadiums, local team owners, and communities all play a part in the super bowl. but when it comes to calling the shots, there's no question that the nfl is firmly in charge. >> of course, the buck stops with nfl commissioner roger goodell. but he can't devote all of his energies to the super bowl or any other single event, so in a recent interview, roger told me his management style involves delegating to deputies he can rely on. >> i have to do it my way. but i must say that i've been very fortunate that i've had great people that i've been able to work with, that i've had relationships with.

that i've been able to take some of the great things that others do and some of the characters, characteristics that i think are so important in being successful and incorporate them into my own style. but i'm the first to tell you, you don't get there alone. have you to have people who help you along the way. and i still have people that help me along the way. >> the man who manages super bowl >> horrow: and the person goodell relies on to manage super bowl planning is frank supovitz, the league's senior vice president of events. supovitz works out of the nfl's new york headquarters, and he has a lot on his mind-- everything from setting the game's kickoff time to making sure that super bowl merchandise is properly licensed. how does frank supovitz go about managing an event as big as the super bowl? let's hear what the top gun himself has to say. >> hey, frank, your job is one of the biggest assignments in all of events management, and you've been through five super bowls and are about to complete your sixth. what would you say is different about managing the super bowl from other special events?

>> what's really different about the super bowl, rick, is that it's americas unofficial holiday. so there's no tolerance for error. if you make a mistake, about 150 million people find out about it all at once. it's a very heady responsibility. >> would you say the super bowl is a logistical nightmare? >> i wouldn't call super bowl a logistical nightmare. if you do what we do for a living, it is a puzzle, it's a puzzle to be solved. it's something that keeps you on your toes because there are literally millions of details and because you're in a different city each year, those details will change and even if you go back to a city things are different, you don't want to do the same thing over again that you did maybe five or six years before. so i wouldn't call it a nightmare. i'd call it an incredible challenge and something that we're looking forward to every year quite frankly. >> so how far in advance did do you start planing for a super bowl? >> super bowls are on a four-year planning cycle so,

we're actually working on four at any given moment, and it's really an intense amount of planning during the 18 months leading up to a super bowl. but really it takes four years to fully develop all the plans that are required to make sure the super bowl is a success. >> you manage a staff of 27, and with so many details to be covered, how do you sigh who covers what? >> 27 also covers the play-offs and the pro bowl the week before. so we're really split into a lot of different places, and we have to look toward partners within the league really every department gets involved in super bowl machining and in execution as well as contractors that we bring in literally from all over the country and all over the world. the best at what they do. that we don't have in our offices year round. so when it comes to game day, we have 8,000 people working for the nfl, so it's a staff that grows pretty significantly. >> since the super bowl is a live television event, timing has to be extremely critical. would you say that's the biggest

operational consideration in terms of planning for the game itself? >> rick, when commercial time is going for $3 million for a 30-second spot, you can't be 30 secretaries late, that's a very expensive mistake. so you want to make sure that you do have the opportunity to be on time for television, they plan like we do,. we're talking to the television truck all the time from our control center to make sure that we're in lock step to the second. we know when they're going to commercial. they know when we're going to be doing something out on the field. so it is very, very precise. >> what was the biggest unforeseen problem that you had to deal with at a super bowl? >> well, we really try to have a plan for any situation, so we hope that any problem we have is not unforeseen. we spend a lot of time planning these things. we do a game day sim us the week before in real -- game day simulation the week before in real time with everybody who will be making decisions all in one place at one time.

we hire an individual to help us by throwing out scenarios to us so that we can respond to them in real time and really develop a partnership between all the people who do have to make game day decisions. >> do you think we'll see any changes in the super bowl in coming years? or do you keep from messing with the formula that's proven itself for nearly half a century? >> it's really almost unbelievable to think that super bowl can continue to evolve and continue to get better. but that's our job. our job is to make sure that it does continue to get better. it's our job to keep pushing the envelope, making sure that we're doing great things for the game of football, for the brand of the nfl, and for all of our business partners and fans. >> horrow: finally, as important as the super bowl is as a football game, we shouldn't forget that it's also home to the world's most-watched musical event, the half-time show. that show seems to get bigger and more complex every year, and

features the biggest names in the business as performers. coordinating the halftime show is also a huge responsibility, and it's handled by the nfl's director of programming, lawrence randall. how do you go about selecting the particular artist every year? >> each year we kind of take a look at the trends in music and who will appeal to the wideest audience. super bowl really has become an event that appeals to everyone, it's basically a national holiday. so we look for someone with familiar music that will appeal to folks who are 8 to 80 years old. >> you've been criticized for selecting some artists who were well past their prime, like bruce springsteen in 2009 or the who in 2010. are those the last classic rock shows we're likely to see in half time? >> i don't know about the last classic rock shows. i think each of those acts, mccartney, prince, springsteen, the rolling stones, i think their body of work really speaks

for themselves. they have a huge number of hits that appeal, as we said, to numerous people across many demographics. however, this year we've really strived and made an effort to embrace a younger crowd and a younger audience with the act that we've chosen. >> to perform before a live audience of close to 100,000 and a tv audience of more than 100 million, i would think top artists would demand astronomical fees, and yet i understand the nfl only pays for the artist's expenses. how do you get away with that? >> that's 100% correct, rick. it is the biggest exposure day you can get, so for instance the way we look at it is if a super bowl spot is going for $3 million and you're on stage for 12 minutes, if do you that math, you're getting an unbelievable amount of exposure. so we agree to pay for your costs, and the rest is up to you to put on the best show possible. >> even without major talent fees, i understand that staging the half time shows is very expensive. and can run well into the

millions of dollars. is that correct? >> it's a very expensive undertaking. >> what does all that money buy you? >> some of it goes into building stages, getting cast members, flying people in, special effects, pyrotechnics, just the whole thing of putting on a huge show in 12 minutes. >> in the end, does the half time show make a profit for the nfl, or is it just written off as part of the game's production costs? >> like every business we go into at the nfl, we always go in looking to make a profit, rick. fortunately we have a tremendous sponsor in bridgestone who has been with us the last few years and will continue to be with us for the next few years. >> how closely do you coordinate with the television network? >> hand in hand. >> speaking of television, cbs had to pay fines for janet jackson's wardrobe malfunction in the 2004 half time show. i take it caused you a lot of grief? >> that did cause the nfl a lot of grief, when ever the commissioner has to go in front

congress and testify, it's not a great day for anyone. but i think we've rebounded strongly and kind of put that half time back on stage as it deserves as the entertainment destination. >> what steps have you taken to make sure something similar does not happen again? >> when we did that, rick, the production of it was farmed out to mtv, where as now we do everything in-house, as you mentioned, it's an nfl network production. so we are involved in every piece of, every detail with super bowl half times, from selecting the wardrobe that people wear to approving the lyrics that they play. >> so as we've seen, the super bowl is far more than just a football game. it's perhaps the premier live entertainment event of the year. and putting it on involves a behind-the-scenes human effort almost as intense as pro football. i'm rick horrow of nbr's "beyond the scoreboard." thanks for watching.

"nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> be more. pbs.