The Bidwell family thinks they and their Super Bowl fans have a God given right to government welfare. They expect us tax payers to help pay the outrageous costs of the super wealthy that come to the Super Bowl to party. What hypocrites, at the same time the Super Bowl charges outrageous prices for admittance to its events, for its food concessions and for Super Bowl toys and gadgets they are crying like babies because the hotels are doing the same thing and charging outrageous prices for rooms during the Super Bowl. azcentral/story/news/local/glendale/2014/08/25/super-bowl-hosts-feud-parking-alleged-hotel-price-gouging/14601987/ Super Bowl hosts feud over parking, alleged hotel price gouging Peter Corbett, The Republic | azcentral 9:36 p.m. MST August 25, 2014 Imagine going to a huge party in which the hosts are publicly feuding. Thats what is happening with Glendale and the Arizona Cardinals less than six months before the NFLs Super Bowl visits University of Phoenix Stadium in the West Valley city. Cardinals President Michael Bidwill ripped Glendale in a live 12News broadcast interview Sunday with azcentral sports columnist Dan Bickley. Bidwill charged that the citys hotels were price gouging and the city hall people really have done nothing to support Super Bowl XLIX. In an interview Monday with The Arizona Republic, he also took issue with Glendales complaints about the costs of hosting the Super Bowl. They got themselves in a financial dilemma with other sports facilities, Bidwill said. They just didnt do a good job of planning these things. A year ago, the Cardinals and NFL expressed concerns with Glendales readiness for Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1. That included issues relating to parking and commitments for a bloc of hotel rooms. AZCENTRAL The truth behind Bidwills Glendale slam Since then the, NFL moved the NFL Experience fan event and the media headquarters to downtown Phoenix, leaving Glendale with little more than hosting the game itself. Glendale City Councilman Gary Sherwood took issue with Bidwills comments, noting that city is ahead of schedule on all its commitments to the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee for public safety and transportation. I dont think hes picking on us more than other folks, said Sherwood, nothing that the Cardinals president has a reputation for clashing with business partners, including past feuds with Arizona State University and the Fiesta Bowl. AZCENTRAL Will Katy, Rihanna or Coldplay pay to play Super Bowl? Weve moved on, the councilman said of Glendale administrators. We would get crazy every time hed go off like that. A study by Elliott D. Pollack & Co. showed that Glendale spent $3.4 million hosting the 2008 Super Bowl and the event generated $1.2 million in city tax revenue from direct visitor spending. The study also found that $11.3 million in tax revenue went to the other cities in Maricopa County. This spring, Glendale asked the Arizona Legislature for up to $2 million for its public safety costs for next years Super Bowl, but the Senate rejected that request. Bidwill said Glendale will receive more tax revenue for the 2015 Super Bowl because its sales tax has increased from 2.2 to 2.9 percent. Glendale also gets tremendous value from an estimated $13 million in media exposure tied to the Super Bowl, he said. AZCENTRAL Glendales lack of event parking proves costly Bidwill did not cite any specific examples of price gouging. The Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee wants Glendale to join with other Valley cities, including Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, to arrange a bloc of 20,000 hotel rooms for the event to prevent visitors from being overcharged, he said. The Valley could be at risk of losing other mega events if it gets a reputation for gouging guests, Bidwill said. Internet searches show that many Valley hotels already are sold out for the Super Bowl, while others have raised their rates considerably. A Days Hotel in nearby Peoria was advertising rates of $323 for Super Bowl weekend and $86 a week later. And a Hampton Inn at Scottsdale and Bell roads in Phoenix listed rates of $659 for Super Bowl weekend and $144 for the next weekend. Only two Glendale hotels have committed room blocs and others having been working on agreements with the the host committee, said Jean Moreno, Glendales Super Bowl project manager. Glendale spokeswoman Julie Watters said the room blocs depend on private agreements between the host committee and hotels and the city cant force those to happen. Glendale is also working to meet its Super Bowl parking obligation. It will lease close to 1,700 spaces at a cost of $35,000 to $52,000. Glendale is required to provide 6,000 parking spaces to the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, which operates University of Phoenix Stadium. But a parking garage to provide those spaces is not scheduled to open until 2018. Glendale Councilman Ian Hugh said the rift with the Cardinals is not good for anyone. I certainly hope that city management can patch things up with the NFL, the Super Bowl committee and Michael Bidwill, Hugh said. He carries a lot of weight in the NFL.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 15:39:19 +0000