Welcome to your Training

You are called ‘superstars’ because you are just that – you were chosen from tens of thousands of applicants and will become the stars of our team as we welcome over a million visitors and guests to events and celebrations surrounding Super Bowl LI.

We have the opportunity to share with the world that Houston is the city of the future. If you dream big, anything is possible.

In the same way remaining NFL teams and players are training hard to try and make it to Super Bowl LI, your training for your role starts here.

I hope you will take every opportunity to digest all the information we will share to prepare you for your position. Unquestionably the more you put into absorbing these training materials and your role, the more you will get out of your Super Bowl LI experience.

Houston is unique. It is the most diverse city in America, and our many ethnic and cultural influences are one of our greatest assets. We are proud that our volunteer team reflects each and every community across Houston, combined with teammates that will join from all over America and a number of countries internationally.

The ten days of festivities leading into Super Bowl LI will sometimes be challenging, but it will be hugely rewarding. As a superstar volunteer, you get to be a part of the team that made it happen. The more we embrace this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and enjoy it, the warmer the welcome and experience will be for everyone.

This is your final step to get ready before we host the biggest single day sporting event in the world. I can’t wait to see you in action.

Andy Newman

Director, Volunteer Programs, Houston Super Bowl Host Committee

Super Bowl LI Overview

Welcome to Super Bowl LI! Even though there have been large events in Houston before, including two previous Super Bowls, this spectacle will be of a magnitude the city has never seen before.

From the beginning, we have planned to exceed the greatest of expectations and provide an unparalleled to everyone who comes to Houston. Whether it be visiting fans, players, team owners, league officials or our fellow Houstonians, it’s our goal to provide them with a great time and make want to come back and do it again after the game is played.

For that to happen requires an incredible amount of preparation covering logistics, traffic, security, entertainment and information. As volunteers, you will be at the crossroads of all those aspects of Super Bowl LI, and an integral part of our plan to host an exceptional experience for everyone.

Because you will be in direct contact with the people so important to our mission, it is imperative to make sure you understand the overall plan and can communicate the necessary information quickly and easily.

Events like the Super Bowl are incredibly important to the host city for a number of reasons. The economic impact will be a big plus for the area as people flock to Houston for the game and festivities. It raises the profile of the city across the country and around the world. Houston will become part of the conversation during Super Bowl Week and we have an important role in shaping the conversation and showcase our city in a way that isn’t possible without this event.

Last year served as a year-long retrospective of the game. The 50-yard lines were gold and there was a concerted effort to look back at the first half-century of this game. Because of this the Host Committee has always looked at Super Bowl LI as the first Super Bowl of the next 50 years. The Super Bowl of the Future in the City of the Future.

Demographically, present-day Houston represents what the rest of the will look like in the coming decades. Houston is the most diverse city in the nation with more people flocking here from around the globe every day. As diverse as the city is, football is a unifying force in the community. This is football country and the roots of the game run deep here. When

combining something so important to the community and our desire to welcome guests and show off our city, great things can happen. And they will, starting in late January.

The biggest parties during Super Bowl week will be centered in downtown Houston with Super Bowl LIVE and the NFL Experience Driven by Genesis.

Super Bowl LIVE is the free fan festival anchored in and extending all the way to Root Park. There will be concerts, food, exhibits and an out of this world ride that combines virtual reality with a drop tower.

The NFL Experience Driven by Genesis is the NFL’s ticketed interactive fan experience with games, Hall of Fame displays, exhibits, player appearances and autograph sessions and much more. This will be located inside the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Attendance at Super Bowl LIVE is expected to top 1 million people over the course of the 10 days leading up to Super Bowl LI. With so many people coming downtown we have worked hard to provide a comprehensive traffic and transportation plan called “Know Before You Go” which provides preferred routes and parking areas into downtown as well as several shuttle, bus and rail, and alternative options for fans to attend the events. This document will be shared on your volunteer portal as part of your training materials and will also be included on the Host Committee’s web site and on the Super Bowl App.

These will be the largest, but not the only events held during Super Bowl week. Other NFL events include Opening Night Fueled by Gatorade at on Monday, Jan. 30. This is the evolution of Media Day, it is now a ticketed event, open to the public and is the first chance to see both teams in Houston before Super Bowl LI.

The night before the Super Bowl there are two more large NFL events, NFL Honors and the Taste of the NFL. NFL Honors will be held at the Wortham Center downtown and is where all the end of season awards will be handed out. It is also where the next Pro Football Hall of Fame class is announced.

The Taste of the NFL will be held at the and will feature celebrity chefs and former players from each NFL city with proceeds benefiting food banks in each city.

At the end of the week is the big event, Super Bowl LI. Houston is no stranger to hosting the Super Bowl, this is the third time the game has been played here. Super Bowl VIII was played at Rice Stadium with the Dolphins beating the Minnesota Vikings, and 30 years later Super

Bowl XXXVIII was played at Reliant (now NRG) Stadium with the beating the . The AFC has won each Super Bowl played here in Houston and each team that won here also won either the year before or after. The Dolphins were a perfect 17-0 when they won Super Bowl VII, and the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX. Super Bowl LI will also be played at NRG Stadium.