By Brian Murphy

Pioneer Press

ATLANTA — Minnesota gets to throw out the first pitch to NFL owners Tuesday as three markets try to land Super Bowl LII in 2018.

The civic and team delegation for the Twin Cities was randomly selected Monday to make its 15-minute presentation ahead of New Orleans and Indianapolis during the league’s spring meeting.

“We think that’s good luck. We’ll set the standard,” said Minnesota bid committee co-chair Marilyn Carlson Nelson. “First or last would be better than being in the middle. Everybody’s a little fresher. You’re listening to stories. I hope ours is going to knock their socks off.”

New Orleans is the consensus favorite among sports marketers. The renowned party town is 10 for 10 in Super Bowl bids, tied with Miami for the most.

New Orleans will celebrate its 300th anniversary in 2018 and is the warm-weather alternative to Minneapolis and Indianapolis.

But the Vikings will have a futuristic new stadium to pitch. Scheduled to open in July 2016, it will cost approximately $1 billion — $498 million of which will come from Minnesota taxpayers. The Vikings had lobbied the state Legislature for more than a decade by the time owners Zygi and Mark Wilf secured that money in 2012.

The NFL has a history of rewarding Super Bowls to markets that build new stadiums, particularly those that negotiate contentious public-private deals like Minnesota.

“There are no entitlements,” said Lester Bagley, the Vikings vice president for public affairs. “We need to earn it and we believe we have.”

Bagley was confident Minnesota’s brutal winter would be irrelevant in the competition for the Feb. 4, 2018, league championship game.

“As we’ve had interaction with other NFL owners, it’s not going to be a factor in their vote,” he said. “They’re going to vote for the best bid.”

Bids were submitted May 7 and cannot be enhanced before Tuesday’s vote.

Two weeks ago, the Minnesota delegation said it had raised 85 percent of the $30 million to $40 million in private funds necessary to host Super Bowl LII.

“We may be over the top,” Carlson Nelson said Monday, deferring specifics until after the presentation. “We’re ready. Our stadium is new. Our city is being renewed and refreshed. We really think it’s our time.”

—Distributed by MCT Information Services