Super Bowl planner talks on 2012 doubts

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - While the Indianapolis Colts and football fans are concentrating on a playoff game three days from now, it's a game 396 days away that's quietly getting even more attention — Super Bowl 2012.

And for the first time, 24-Hour News 8 has word on what would happen if there is a lockout in the league this year.

Plans for the big game in 2012 are moving forward full speed ahead with the approval of the NFL. But the cloud that hangs over the big game and the city's effort to host it is the possibility of a delayed or cancelled season.

The countdown clock is ticking as Indianapolis continues moving toward the goal line. Super Bowl 2012 is 13 months away. Soon, a 70-foot inflatable dome will soar above a site just north of the football stadium at the University of Indianapolis. It is the Athletic and Recreation center, or ARC as it's known. It’s a $6 million dollar indoor track and recreation center that had been on the university drawing board for years.

When the NFL came calling, a few adjustments were made and it will also serve as a temporary practice field for the NFC team in the 2012 Super Bowl.

But the game will only be played if owners and players can work out a new contract agreement. So many people are worried about it, that for the first time, Mark Miles, the Chairman of the Indianapolis Host Committee, talked about the issue at what was billed as a routine update meeting on Wednesday.

"Even if there were a lockout, and even if it was quite prolonged, it's still extremely likely we're going to have our Super Bowl,” Miles said, after being pressed on the issue.

And for the first time, Miles said that if Super Bowl 2012 doesn't happen, Indianapolis will get to host a different one.

"It's sort of ... it's understood that if, in the extremely unlikely case that we don't have our Super Bowl in 2012, we'll have a future one," he said.

The next Super Bowl available for Indianapolis would be in 2015. But Miles wouldn't talk any more about it. He says the city is moving forward as if Super Bowl 2012 will be played here, even if the next football season is shortened.