ARLINGTON – Minority- and women-owned businesses have landed more than $200 million worth of contracts for construction of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.

Work is winding down there, but the upcoming Super Bowl could provide millions more in business opportunities. At least nine minority and women business associations, representing at least 10,000 members, have been invited Tuesday to discuss forming a coalition to ensure they aren't overlooked when the big game arrives in 2011.

"There isn't anything negative that the NFL or Super Bowl has done," said Eddie Reyes, one of the organizers. "We wanted to get our dominoes in a row."

Reyes, who coordinates similar contracting for the University of North Texas in Denton, said he didn't know much about the NFL's plans for including minority- and women-owned businesses in Super Bowl preparations. He said he plans to approach the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee after the coalition organizes and sets goals.

Tony Fay, a host committee spokesman, said outreach to businesses owned by women and minorities was required as part of the North Texas Super Bowl bid, and the committee has been working on related plans for months.

"A lot of things they're hoping will happen, we're already planning," Fay said.

NFL officials said that more than $55 million worth of Super Bowl-related contracts have gone to minority- and women-owned businesses and small businesses since the league's Emerging Business Program started in 1994. The numbers have grown in recent years with $10 million in contracts at the 2006 Super Bowl in Detroit, and $15 million the following year in South Florida.

Debbie Hurst, president of Women's Business Council-Southwest, said she and a few others planning to attend Tuesday's meeting have been talking informally about joining forces. She said the business associations and chambers of commerce will look for areas in which they can all agree and speak as a unified group. At the same time, she said, each organization has separate needs and constituencies and will act independently in some cases.

"We're not cookie-cutter organizations," Hurst said. "We could come out of it [the meeting] saying that working as a coalition is not a good idea, but I wouldn't expect that."

Robbie Douglas, director of sponsorship development and marketing for the local host committee, said she wasn't aware of Reyes' efforts, but she said it's a good idea. A group like this would create another way to communicate with companies eligible for the Emerging Business Program, she said.

"We're really looking to embrace the community in a big way," she said.

The host committee plans to announce later in the spring some details of its minority contracting efforts. The program will include workshops, a database of contractors, networking opportunities and assistance getting certified.

There's no guarantee, though, that any individual participants will get a contract from the host committee, NFL or one of the league's major contractors. The Web site for next year's Super Bowl in South Florida estimates that 25 percent to 35 percent of the registered companies get a contract.

There are also no "set asides" or goals in the NFL program, which differs from how this was handled with the stadium construction. Arlington's Fair Share agreement set percentage goals – varying from 18 to 37 percent – for participation by category.

A summary released last month showed that the Cowboys had met goals in three of the five categories. One miss was by 3 percentage points, but in two categories, the minority and women contracting exceeded goals by large margins.

Contracting opportunities for the Super Bowl will be smaller than for the $1.1 billion stadium and sometimes less obvious to the general public. Millions of dollars will flow into the area as football fans, business executives, celebrities and others fly to North Texas and rent cars and hotel rooms and spend money at restaurants and clubs. But the behind-the-scenes contracting that the public doesn't notices adds millions more.

The emerging business resource guide for the 2009 Tampa Bay Super Bowl includes companies ranging from printing to pyrotechnics, carpenters to catering, fencing to flowers.

A 2008 Phoenix Business Journal story even noted that one company at the 2008 Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., got a contract to cater an Emerging Business Program workshop.

Some companies also could get discounted, temporary licenses to produce unique Super Bowl memorabilia. Contractors could get a deal to manufacture souvenir belt buckles – like in Tampa – but not something standardized like a football with the Super Bowl logo.

Tisha Ford, the NFL's manager of special events business development, said that money made from the Super Bowl contract is only part of the benefit. The contacts developed and experience could lead to much more.

"We're there on the ground for a couple of weeks and then we're gone," she said. "And then what? We want the businesses to really be empowered and to have gained enough knowledge and experience and know-how. ... That's really where the true value lies in a program of this nature."

Arlington receives quarterly Fair Share agreement updates showing minority- and women-owned business participation in construction of the Dallas Cowboys $1.1 billion stadium. Through January, 118 of these companies have received money for their work on the stadium. Here are some of the statistics: