ARLINGTON – Less than three years from kickoff, work on Super Bowl XLV is picking up momentum as the host committee on Monday announced its membership, logo and list of $1 million donors.

Frank Supovitz, the NFL's Super Bowl czar, said the league staff starts preparing for the game four years in advance. Early in the process, he said, the NFL often has to slow down a little to let the host catch up.

"As I sit here today, I have to say we have some catching up to do to you," Mr. Supovitz said as workers behind him continued construction of the $1.1 billion Dallas Cowboys stadium.

The 2011 Super Bowl will be the first for North Texas, and host committee members said they feel pressure to make an impression. During speeches at Monday morning's news conference, speakers guaranteed this Super Bowl would be the biggest and best ever at least a dozen times.

NATALIE CAUDILL / DMN

Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck, a member of the Super Bowl XLV host committee, was one of several speakers Monday who promised a Texas-size event for the game in 2011.

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"I have no doubt that this once again will be the baddest – that means good – Super Bowl, the biggest Super Bowl ever produced," said Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck, getting a chuckle from the crowd.

The game could have as many as 125,000 ticket holders, counting both the seats and standing-room-only admission in the open-air plazas in the end zones.

Host committee member Ross Perot Jr., who along with Hall of Famer Troy Aikman will work on fundraising, said he wants the Super Bowl to be so spectacular the NFL will be asking Jerry Jones: "How soon can we come back?"

Mr. Perot's Hillwood Development Corp. was one of four $1 million founding sponsors, along with the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Staubach Co. and lawyer and businessman Ted Skokos and his wife, Shannon.

These sponsors will get – among a long list of perks – a seat on the host committee, luxury suite for 16 at Super Bowl XLV, 50 additional game tickets, charter buses and limousines and invitations to parties at the homes of Roger Staubach and Jerry Jones.

There will be other sponsorship levels, but those haven't been created yet.

Phillip Jones, president and CEO of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, said he looks at his organization's sponsorship as a smart investment. He said friends and family can forget about asking for tickets to the game or spots in the suite. He said those will be used to woo the planners of the nation's biggest conferences and meetings.

"If we can get 10 or 12 major conventions, that will pay for the investment," Mr. Jones said.

The host committee expects to complete its budget this year, but previously, organizers said they expected to spend about $30 million for activities such as transporting the media and league officials, entertaining VIPs and sponsoring public and private Super Bowl events.

The goal of 15 founding sponsors would pay for half of that. Much of the rest could be paid for with a partial refund of the sales tax generated before and during the game, similar to what was done for Houston's Super Bowl in 2004.

Host committee officials noted that this kickoff event was less than a week after a study was released announcing that the 2008 Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., had a record economic impact of more than $500 million. The study by Arizona State University said that was the largest ever for a Super Bowl.

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said that number is huge, but it's almost a secondary benefit.

"What it does is let us have the world shine a light on us and see all the great things that are happening," he said. "That's got marketing and advertising value."

Besides the boasts that this will be the biggest and best Super Bowl ever, host committee members emphasized it would have an impact long after the final whistle sounds and the last corporate executive jets back home.

Mr. Cluck said he has talked to Arlington school Superintendent Hector Montenegro about creating mentoring and other programs in conjunction with the NFL.

The committee also expects to make an announcement in the fall about the creation of a Youth Education Town, an education and youth recreation center in an at-risk neighborhood. The NFL has helped fund 12 of these centers in 10 cities.

The league also opens its NFL Experience theme park for a day to selected students with good attendance.

Mr. Perot said he would be surprised if the area didn't see corporate relocations influenced by the Super Bowl publicity. He said this is the way to let the world know that North Texas is the fourth-largest region in the U.S., has the country's "top economy" and that Texas has more Fortune 500 corporate headquarters than any other state.

"Go down the list," Mr. Perot said. "I'm not sure we've ever had more momentum in North Texas than today. The question is how we tell the world about it."