The Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee is looking for a few good men and women — 6,000 to be exact — to work the events surrounding the Super Bowl this year.
For free.
The Times reports:
As the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee begins its search this week for 6,000 volunteers, it is making one thing clear:
"No volunteers will receive tickets to the game," said Jennifer St. John, the host committee volunteer coordinator. "And there are no volunteer opportunities inside Raymond James Stadium either."
Volunteers will get a uniform — a hat, shirt and jacket emblazoned with a commemorative Super Bowl logo — to keep.
So, what would a volunteer do?
In the week before Tampa's Super Bowl, slated for Feb. 1, 2009, some volunteers will greet travelers at the airport. Others will be assigned to hotels to hand out information packets to guests and give directions to restaurants, events, beaches and other attractions.
Some will meet buses and direct ticket-holders outside the stadium on game day.
Most will assist at the NFL Experience, a football-themed amusement park near the stadium scheduled to run Jan. 24-25 and Jan. 29-30.
Assignments there will include helping with games and assisting with autograph sessions by football players and coaches.
"It's the most exciting place to volunteer. There's a lot of activity," St. John said.
CL has already reported on research that indicates Super Bowl games don't bring in the economic benefits promised to host cities, and now, they won't even hire us.
And, in addition to the traffic and security costs, Super Bowl games displace a host city's homeless population as the big game nears. In the past, police cleared streets with a wink and nod from organizers. During Detroit's 2006 game, the Super Bowl Host Committee didn't even hide their intentions, organizing a "Homeless Super Bowl Party" that conveniently moved all the homeless in downtown Detroit to shelters for three days.
I've got a better idea: Why not outfit Hillsborough County's swelling homeless population with said uniforms and let them volunteer? Super Bowl organizers could get their volunteers (and then some), remove the homeless from the streets and even get some good PR out of the deal.
That is if you think the homeless would work for free too.
