Downtown businesses abuzz with Super Bowl bid news

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - With news that another Super Bowl bid may be in the works for Indianapolis , 24-Hour News 8 reporter Teresa Mackin asks downtown business owners if they'd be up for it.

She found plenty of excitement for the idea.

At St. Elmo, which became a hup for celebs during Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis in February, General Manager Chris Ratay said they're ready to go again.

"We've got the playbook now," he said. "We've got all the notes. We want to do it again."

Ratay said the restaurant served 9,000 people during the week of the Super Bowl - as many as they usually serve in a month.

“They loved Indianapolis. My belief is, they want us to bid again. Because we set the tone; we established some models other cities had not done,” added Ratay.

Employees at Mikado Restaurant & Sushi and the Ram downtown say they’d love to have the Super Bowl again. They said lines were out the door, everyday, every hour that week.

The Super Bowl brought a world-wide spotlight to Indianapolis. In the end, the Capital Improvement Board estimated the city lost a million dollars, but expected to bring in $300 million dollars in future business.

The next available Super Bowl is 2016. The city would not confirm specifics of any new bid on the record Tuesday, but the Super Bowl Host Committee has scheduled a news conference for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. You can watch it live on wishtv.com, followed by a live report on 24-Hour News 8.