All 61 Super Bowl XLV TV ads in 2 Minutes

XLV

First XLV Lawsuit Filed

Arlington officials found numerous safety problems during the construction of temporary seats at Cowboys Stadium. Then the NFL contractor walked off the job just hours before Sunday’s Super Bowl, according to Arlington Fire Chief Don Crowson.

The issues included pathways that were too narrow and questions about the structural integrity of the stands.  Crowson said the city had never experienced such safety issues during construction of temporary seating at previous Cowboys Stadium events.

Yesterday a Los Angeles-based law firm filed a lawsuit against Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the Cowboys organization and the National Football League, accusing the defendants of fraud related to Super Bowl tickets.

The Lawsuit alleges breach of contract, fraud and deceptive sales practices on behalf of people who ended up watching the game on TV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, or had seats the lawsuit labeled “illegitimate.”

The NFL had announced just hours before the Green Bay Packers played the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday that about 1,250 temporary seats were deemed unsafe, and the league scrambled to find new seats for about 850 people. The remaining 400 were forced to watch from standing-room locations around the stadium. 

Los Angeles-based attorney Michael J. Avenatti said he expects the suit to cover about 1,000 people.

“No one is attempting to get rich from this,” he said. “People are merely interested in being compensated for what happened and the cost that goes with that.”

CBS 11, KTVT television in Dallas/Fort Worth reported on their 6 p.m. news that a second law suit has been filed against the NFL.  Apparently the second lawsuit was filed by a season ticket holder, who paid a $100,000 license fee to the Dallas Cowboys.  The lawsuit claims that the Cowboys breached the agreement with season ticket holders concerning the Super Bowl.  No further details were reported but an update was promised for the 10 p.m. newscast.

Cowboys Stadium 766 Short of Super Bowl Attendance Record

Hundreds of Super Bowl fans made passed through 3 levels of security, where their tickets were scanned each time, only to be turned away, once they arrived at their seats yesterday.  Incredibly sections of temporary bleachers erected inside Cowboys Stadium were not completed in time for the game.

The NFL said 850 fans with those tickets were relocated to other seats in the stadium.  But long after the game started, hundreds were still standing inline outside of the Stadium waiting for a resolution to their predicament. These fans had to exit the stadium before re-entering and missed at least a quarter of the game. 

Snow, ice and sub freezing temperatures may had already hurt chances of landing another Super Bowl in Arlington.  Hundreds of flights to DFW International Airport were cancelled during the week. Travel within the metroplex was nearly impossible most of the week.  Schools and non essential government offices were closed from Tuesday through Friday.  Snow and ice feel from the roof on Friday, injuring at least six workers, one seriously, though he is expected to recover. 

Several sections of the $1.2 billion dollar facility were left empty during the game.  Three sections were covered in large black tarpaulins. One section was empty and looked ready.  But underneath the seats, there were scattered metal beams and an assortment of other parts. 

And now it appears that Jerry Jones quest to set a Super Bowl attendance record by adding temporary seats has failed.  The Super Bowl attendance record of 103,985 was set in 1980 at the Rose Bowl.  Sunday’s game at Cowboys Stadium fell 766 short when it was announced at 103,219.

Jerry Jones will have to make the sale of his lifetime to convince the NFL to return to Arlington in 2016 for Super Bowl L.  The Cowboys and north Texas officials have made it clear that they are planning on the NFL playing the 50th Super Bowl inside Cowboys Stadium.

The Super Bowl will be played in the Meadowlands in 2014.  That game itself will be played in New Jersey’s open stadium with no protection from the winter elements.  I’m not sure at if north Texas should be hoping for good weather or a repeat of Super Storm 2014?

No matter what happens in New Jersey, Seat Gate may have been the final nail in the North Texas Super Bowl coffin.

Update on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 3:05PM by Bonzer Wolf

If you’re as sick of Super Bowl XLV crap as I am, you might want to stop reading here.  I’ve been listening to sports talk radio all day today.  The situation at Cowboys Stadium was much worse than previously reported.  It’s going to take a while for the media to get to the bottom of this because both the NFL and the Cowboys went into cover up and hide mode, midweek. 

The NFL was aware that temporary seats would not be ready in time. It’s been reported that as late as Saturday night, the NFL was calling around town Local XLV Stadium Security workers have been calling into local talk radio shows all day.  They were informed at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, that hundreds of seats would not be available. Be prepared for hundreds of disgruntled fans.

The Arlington Police Department issued a statement today saying the Fire Marshall had nothing to do with preventing any seats from being used.  The City of Arlington says, the Fire Marshall was never asked to inspect the seats in question, because the NFL never completed construction of the seats.

Security guards and media are reporting today, that the NFL intentionally mislead them on Sunday, saying that the Fire Marshall was preventing the seats from being occupied. The NFL sold tickets for seats that were never constructed, which it seems to me is an NFL problem, not a Dallas Cowboys problem.

The NFL, not the Dallas Cowboys run the Super Bowl and were in total control of Cowboys Stadium.

The NFL also mailed every Dallas Cowboys season ticket holder, a solicitation, encouraging them to attend Super Bowl XLV by purchasing a $200 Party Pass.  The Party Pass allowed season ticket holders entry into a huge Party tent in the parking lot on the west side of the stadium, where they could watch the game on a Super Sized HD Screen.

Season ticket holders have been calling talk radio all day and recounting perhaps the biggest cluster muck in DFW sports history.  Thousands were kept outside in the cold waiting until after 5 p.m. to be let into the Big Party Pass Tent.  They were subject to the same security inspections as those who entered the stadium.  Even though the Stadium was full and there were no lines for entry into Cowboys Stadium, only 4 scanners were used to screen party pass ticket holders.

There were no restroom facilities near the line.  Horror stories, have been recounted on local talk radio stations today, addressing that huge problem.  Once inside, the Big Tent, there were limited restrooms. Venders ran out of beer at the bars and there were zero roving beer venders in the Party Pass area.  All three area sports radio stations, sound just alike today.  It’s all “fail talk” all the time.

The bottom line is that Super Bowl XLV was a total failure and an embarrassment for north Texas.  This story is not going to go away any time soon.  It will take some time, but we will find out exactly what happened and who was responsible. My guess is that there will be plenty of blame to spread around.

Super Muck Up XLV

Looks like another big muck up at Jerry World.  Jerry Jones and north Texas officials were planning on this Super Bowl being so impressive that the NFL would award Super Bowl L (50) to Cowboys Stadium.

USA Today reports that the NFL turned away 400 fans with Super Bowl tickets and had to re-seat 850 other fans after a disruption caused their original seats at Cowboys Stadium to be unavailable on Sunday. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said that “incomplete installation of temporary seats in a limited number of sections made the seats unusable.”

The fans who were unable to be seated will be given a refund of $2,400, three times the face value of their ticket. They were invited into Cowboys Stadium to watch either in standing room areas or in a club level behind the Steelers’ bench where they could watch on monitors.

The face value on most of the tickets was between $800-$900 but most fans paid far more for their tickets.  Brad Geier told the New York Times, “I’ve just lost eight grand because they decided to put seats where they shouldn’t.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, who formerly worked for the Dallas Cowboys sent an email to the NY Times saying, “It was an issue throughout the week that unfortunately did not get resolved.”

It’s the latest black eye for the NFL in a Super Bowl week that featured questionable response to wintry weather and falling ice from the roof of Cowboys Stadium that injured six people on Friday.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones expected to set a Super Bowl record on Sunday with about 105,000 attending the game. McCarthy said the league regretted the incident and pledged a full review. He said the NFL and Arlington police and fire officials agreed on the move.

The fans who were reseated had tickets originally in sections 205A, 215A, 230A and 240A. They were moved to similar or better seats. The fans who were turned away were originally seated in sections 425A and 430A.

The NFL regularly holds back some seats for emergencies. And McCarthy said the league and the Cowboys also returned some tickets to help re-seat the group of 850. The Cowboys planned to construct about 15,000 temporary sears for the Super Bowl.

The NFL sold $200 tickets for the parking lot! That’s right, thousands of fans paid two C-notes each to watch the game on a giant screen outside the stadium. This reporter is watching the game on a 52 inch plasma HD screen, 12 miles from the Cowboys Stadium parking lot. Great view too!

The Steelers and Packers have won 18 world championships between them, with Green Bay’s 12 titles more than any team in NFL history. The Steelers have won six Super Bowls, the most of any team. Pittsburgh is now tied with the Dallas Cowboys for the most Super Bowl appearances, at eight.

By the way, the Cowboys are the only NFL team to record 20 consecutive winning seasons (1966–1985), in which they only missed the playoffs twice (1974 and 1984), an NFL record that remains unbroken and unchallenged. It remains one of the longest winning streaks in all of professional sports.

Update on Sunday, February 6, 2011 at 9:51PM by Bonzer Wolf

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE

One of the four men who had attended the previous 44 Super Bowls, 79 year old Robert Cook of Brown Deer Wisconsin, watched Super Bowl XLV from his hospital bed.  Mr. Cook’s sent his two daughters to Arlington to attended the game instead. 

FINAL SCORE: Green Bay 31 Pittsburgh 25    MVP: Aaron Rodgers

Update on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 9:25PM by Bonzer Wolf

The NFL has added a second option for the roughly 400 fans who had to give up their seats at the Super Bowl: They can choose to attend any future Super Bowl instead of being limited to the 2012 game.

The league initially said Sunday it would give $2,400, three times the face value of the ticket, to the fans who were forced to watch the game on monitors or use standing-room platforms after some temporary seating sections were not completed in time.

On Monday, Commissioner Roger Goodell said those fans also would receive tickets to next year’s Super Bowl.

Then on Tuesday, the NFL announced the fans could choose instead to receive a ticket to any future Super Bowl, including next year’s, along with round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations. If fans choose that option, they will not get the $2,400. They can wait until after the conference championship games each season to see whether their favorite team reaches the Super Bowl.

“We had more time to think about how to create a broader range of options that would better recognize the deep emotional bond that fans have for their team,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.

The Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 on Sunday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. When the temporary sections were not completed before the start of the game, about 850 fans were moved to other seats. But there was nowhere to put the remaining 400.

Some of the affected fans complained Sunday that the $2,400 didn’t cover the price they paid for the seats, travel and hotels.

If fans choose the first option of next year’s game plus the $2,400, the ticket is transferable, which means it can be sold on the secondary ticket market. It won’t be transferable in the other option.

The league said a senior NFL staff member would call each of the displaced fans to provide information about the options and answer questions.

“The commissioner thought it was the right thing to do to give those fans more options,” Aiello said.

The NFL is working with the Packers, Steelers and Cowboys to track down all the affected fans. Contact information can be e-mailed to SBXLV@nfl.com.

Pat Summerall's Wife Takes Metroplex XLV MVP

The wife of famed broadcaster Pat Summerall fell through her attic ceiling early Friday morning and still managed to throw a private party for 100 that night.

“She came off the injured reserve list in a hurry,” says Kaye Burkhardt, who arranged the book-signing fete at the Summeralls’ home in Southlake, a Fort Worth suburb.

It all started when a major pipe froze predawn Friday , flooding four downstairs rooms of the Summerall estate.

Cheri called a plumber, went into the attic to turn off the water and promptly fell through the ceiling. She landed in the exercise room. Remarkably, she was hobbled but not put out of commission.

Burkhardt and her crew at Dallas Fan Fares Inc. worried that they’d need to change venues. The Summeralls’ home was in disarray, and their quarter-mile driveway needed plowing so that mini-buses could get to the doorstep.

But Cheri marshaled forces and reconnoitered her home, while Dallas Fan Fares worked out logistics to get folks there from downtown without a hitch.

“It was one of the most beautiful events I’ve ever attended,” says Burkhardt.

Dozens of events have come off despite the lousy weather thanks to communal effort, she says. “All of the vendors in town have worked so hard because they know that North Texas is going to take this bad weather rap. They’re doing their utmost to offset that.”