The 2011 Super Bowl in Arlington is a year away, but the National Football League will start doling out contracts to local businesses well before that.

Minority- and women-owned businesses can attend a free informational workshop about pursuing contracting opportunities from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. It's hosted by the North Texas XLV Super Bowl Host Committee.

"We are seeing record numbers" of interested companies, said Robbie Douglas, the committee's director of business development. About 1,000 businesses already have registered for the workshop, she said.

Companies can register at northtexassuperbowl.com/workshopregistration.

The "training camp" will provide business owners with information about the registration, licensing and bidding process, insurance requirements and financing. They'll also hear from NFL contractors who participated in the 2010 Super Bowl at Miami's Dolphin Stadium.

The workshop is the second of three in an NFL Emerging Business series. The first was in October. The last, which will be open only to registered and certified companies, will be April 6.

The deadline for online registration to be a potential 2011 Super Bowl vendor is March 31. The certification deadline is May 31. The application and approval process can take up to seven months.

More than 300 companies already have been approved.