Super Bowl already a win for some local businesses

The Super Bowl is still months away, but Robb Corwin feels like he has already won the big game.

Corwin, owner of the Pride Group in Tempe, recently won bids to handle traffic control and manage paid parking operations at the big game in Glendale, which scheduled for Feb. 1, 2015. He's hoping to land more Super Bowl contracts to provide services like fencing and restrooms.

Among businesses looking to cash in on the game, Corwin is one of the lucky early winners. The football season is still young, but the competition for business deals that are part of the Super Bowl spectacle has been raging for months.

"The Super Bowl is the marquee event when it comes to sports in the United States. It is so incredibly complex, with so many layers of input, production, planning and logistics, that one cannot even imagine what it takes to make it look so easy," said Corwin, whose company landed Super Bowl contracts during the Valley's two previous games in 1996 and 2008.

So far, he expects his piece of the game should support 1,400 jobs with hourly wages ranging from $10 to $20 per hour for the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl, which will be played in Glendale the week before.

It is part of the $500 million economic impact the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee expects the game to have.

The committee, working with the National Football League and related partners like the NFL Network, has already helped identify about 350 area vendors to consider for Super Bowl contracting needs. A program known as Business Connect gives a stamp of approval to businesses that have already met certain thresholds for consideration in contracts.

Kathleen Mascareñas, a spokeswoman for the host committee, said most of the contracting lies ahead.

"The majority of inquiries, including bids and (requests for proposals) will take place in the fall and winter time frame, however some procurement activity has already begun," she said.

Caketini, owned by Gilbert residents Mike and Cathy Monoscalco, is among those listed on Business Connect, something the couple says is already helping.

Mike Monoscalco said he has already seen an increase in inquiries. He's hoping for a contract at one of the major events on game day.

"If we do well, it's good exposure for us, and something we can market ourselves," he said.

M Catering by Michael's has already seen what the Super Bowl can do for business.

The Phoenix business has contracts to provide six clients formal dinners and casual cocktail events surrounding the Super Bowl, just as it did during the 2008 game. It is under consideration for more contracts for other events, too, said Michael Stavros, director of sales and marketing for the company.

"We feel honored that the reputation we have built over the last 15 years has earned us repeat business from the 2008 Super Bowl as well as several new clients who found us by referral," Stavros said.

Catering for the well-heeled crowd that attends the Super Bowl and its related festivities is good business: the average plate per person is $250.

M Catering expects to employ at least 700 workers during a busy period that includes contracts for the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, the annual Barrett-Jackson auto auction and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. By comparison, today the company has 150 employees with 200 on-call.