NEW ORLEANS — The vision for Super Bowl XLVIII in New York and New Jersey is an aggressive one — a project that will require a unique marrying of the expansive metropolitan area to create the proper big-game atmosphere in as many places as possible leading up to the game at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 2, 2014.
The key ingredient to the best Super Bowl site is the vibe it creates the days leading up to the game.
The best sites, such as New Orleans, which is hosting this week’s Super Bowl XLVII festivities, have everything surrounding the game taking place within a 10-mile radius of the Superdome. New Orleans, which is hosting its 10th Super Bowl, sets the standard because it has it all — enough hotels to house thousands of visitors as well as many restaurants and bars.
This will be the biggest challenge for Alfred Kelly, the president and CEO of the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl Host Committee, whose mission is to make everyone happy across a much larger swath.
“Because of our geographic spread, we have to localize the events,’’ Kelly said Thursday. “We want people to get off their plane and feel the sense of the Super Bowl. We understand [the spread-out areas] is a concern. It’s something very much on our minds.’’
Kelly, along with The Post, yesterday toured the New Orleans facilities with Sam Joffray, who’s running the Super Bowl Host Committee here, in an effort to wrap his arms around the enormity of the project and pluck ideas from him.
“Our Super Bowl is going to have elements unique to the event,’’ Kelly said. “We have two teams, two states and a geographic spread of an area. Our Super Bowl [as the host committee] is Monday to Saturday — all the action and economics leading up to the game.
“Our mission is to create a memorable experience for every single constituent — the owners, the cities, the ticket holders and the visitors to our area’’ Kelly added. “We want to make New York and New Jersey a place where visitors want to return to and potentially draw more big events in the future.’’
Kelly, the former president of American Express, said there has not been and will not be a tug-of-war going on between New York and New Jersey, insisting the events are evenly dispersed.
“We don’t even have a Super Bowl if not for both states,’’ Kelly said. “Neither would have gotten the game on its own, so there was no competing to get it. They united to get it.’’
The game, of course, is in New Jersey, as are the team hotels and practice facilities. The media party will be at the Prudential Center and the NFL pre-game tailgate party will be at the Meadowlands race track.
The one major event taking place in Manhattan will be a “Super Bowl Boulevard’’ theme on Broadway, where the street will be closed off for the week from 34th to 44th street.
This is where Kelly took his hardest look yesterday at what Joffray put together in New Orleans, which is a Super Bowl Boulevard theme along the Mississippi River, where there are several stages for live music, along with food and drinks.
Kelly said the same thing will be done on Broadway, except the restaurants in the neighborhood will provide the food and drink, so their businesses can thrive.
“It’s a big market with a lot of people,’’ Kelly said. “I feel like we’re building a small business.’’