NFL-As fans roll in, Arizona hosts embrace super-sized Super Bowl stakes

A mega-watt spotlight falls on Arizona on Monday as a week-long celebration of the National Football League's title game will prove the ultimate test for the Super Bowl hosts.

Going to the Super Bowl is every players' dream but hosting it could be a logistical nightmare in the wrong hands, with high stakes and a league that demands perfection for the world's most-watched annual sporting event.

"Everything from liquor licenses to bus service is impacted by the Super Bowl, so we've been working since the day we earned the bid to be ready," Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told Reuters. "It's really all hands on deck for the city of Phoenix."

She anticipates some one million people will come through Phoenix's downtown, which has been super-sized since the city last hosted in 2015, with the number of restaurants nearly doubled and 10 million square feet of buildings added.

In nearby Glendale, which plays second fiddle to Phoenix in recognition but will, in fact, host the Super Bowl game at State Farm Stadium, the influx of out-of-towners is a chance to put themselves on the map.

"We weren't very well positioned to leverage the benefit of the Super Bowl in 2015," said Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps. "We only had just roughly around 800 hotel rooms within walking distance of the stadium."

Now, the town has some 1,800 rooms and expects to have roughly 3,000 next year when the men's collegiate basketball "Final Four" comes through the region.

But with that development, the opportunity to host also presents a calculated financial risk, with public safety measures, traffic accommodations and permitting all coming with a price tag.

"We're (at) about $4 million of Glendale money to help make the Super Bowl come to reality. We will not