MINNEAPOLIS -- Atlanta is on the clock.
Less than 12 hours after the Philadelphia Eagles lifted the Lombardi Trophy at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Minnesota Super Bowl committee was handing off the big game to Atlanta. Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host the game on Feb. 3, 2019.
The committee passed the game on from the 'Bold North' to the 'Proud South.'
Atlanta then revealed its logo for the Super Bowl, which morphed out of Super Bowl LII's logo, merged with the letters ATL, then finally transitioned into the LIII logo with the Lombardi Trophy between the L's and I's.
As the Minneapolis committee stood on stage right and the Atlanta committee to the left, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he could see the relief on one side of the stage and fear on the other, gesturing towards Atlanta.
But that's not necessarily true. While Atlanta is attempting to redeem its image after Super Bowl XXXIV when an ice storm hit, it has hosted many large events since then.
"All the development that’s occurred downtown and in midtown, it truly is a different city. So if someone hasn’t been there since 2000, they’re going to be very surprised," Carl Adkins, executive director of the Super Bowl committee, told 11Alive.
"They'll be in great shape. We look forward to being there," Goodell told 11Alive after the Super Bowl.
Atlanta Sports Committee President Dan Corso, COO Brett Daniels and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms were also in attendance for the handoff.
"I think it’s important that the city of Atlanta has shown the world that we are capable of hosting a mega event," Lance Bottoms said. "As we host events every single day in the city of Atlanta, when it comes to the really big event, meaning the Super Bowl, that we are just as capable of stepping up and doing it in the seamless way we do each and every day."
