Organizers reflect on XLVI success

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - That's a wrap. Four years of planning and preparation and 10 days of festivities are over. Now, the Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee is offering its assessment of the event that put the city in the international spotlight.

Super Bowl XLVI is in the books, and the committee would call it a best seller with a very happy ending.

Crowds continued walking the streets of the Super Bowl village Monday, even though crews were turning the former "epicenter of awesome" back into regular city streets.

"There's nothing better than when it goes according to plan," says Allison Melangton at the Super Bowl 2012 Host Committee's final news briefing. "Our feedback from the NFL staff in the last 12 hours has been great."

From a special village and a zipline that were both Super Bowl firsts - and were packed for 10 days - to weather that no one ever thought could happen in Indianapolis in late January and early February, the reviews for Super Bowl XLVI have been glowing.

Even problems with crowds at a Friday night concert caused only minor mishaps. And the committee said it showed the flexibility to make changes on the fly.

"We changed. We added resources Friday night. We had changed some things on Saturday, and I think Saturday was a much better night," said Deputy Chief Mike Bates of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

The tear-down process, like everything else, has been planned precisely. It will happen slowly over the next week.

"Our key priorities are worker safety, the folks getting everything out. And public safety. It's a public street," said Mel Raines, who handled traffic for the Host Committee.

Despite good reviews, there's no guarantee Super Bowl success will change the city or state in any way, said Mark Miles, chairman of the Super Bowl Host Committee.

"I don't think any one event is an absolute game-changer. We've seen Super Bowl cities in the past that went on being what they were before," he said.

But Miles did note that the success proved if Indiana wants to go after it again, its bid would have to be taken seriously. Realistically, he said, the earliest Super Bowl the city could go after is 2017. So that gives everyone some time to take a deep breath and recover.