Can Landing Super Bowl Help Arizona "Shed SB 1070 Stigma?"

The National Football League announced yesterday that it's selected Arizona to host the 2015 Super Bowl.Landing the big game is definitely good for the state -- the last time the Super Bowl was in Arizona, in 2008, it generated about $500 million in revenue for Valley businesses.But can the Super...

By James King

October 12, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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The National Football League announced yesterday that it's selected Arizona to host the 2015 Super Bowl.

Landing the big game is definitely good for the state -- the last time the Super Bowl was in Arizona, in 2008, it generated about $500 million in revenue for Valley businesses.

But can the Super Bowl help Arizona "shed its SB 1070 stigma?" Arizona Republic sports columnist Paola Boivin seems to think so.

Boivin penned a column yesterday suggesting that hosting the Super Bowl will help Arizona kick its label as the "Meth Lab of Democracy," a label for which SB 1070 is partly to blame.

"The decision by NFL owners Tuesday to award the 2015 Super Bowl to Arizona was the first enthusiastic vote of support for our community from a sports organization since SB 1070 complicated the landscape," Boivin argues.

See Boivin's full column here.

Arizona's got a pretty bad rap, and likely will as long as the state's elected leaders continue to promote controversial reactionary policies. But can the Super Bowl help reshape Arizona's image?

If you ask us, it's just a game -- as long as guys like Senate President Russell Pearce are calling the shots, no sporting event will do much to fix the state's image. But we want to know what you think: does landing the Super Bowl help Arizona shed its "SB 1070 stigma?"

Cast your vote below.

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