A group of public officials and business leaders announced Thursday it will bid to bring the 2011 Super Bowl to the Arlington stadium, which is set to open in 2009.

It would be the first Super Bowl for the Dallas area, home to the team that has appeared in an NFL-record eight Super Bowls.

``Dallas and Fort Worth love a great party, and the Super Bowl is the best party of them all,'' Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said.

The committee must submit a bid to the NFL by April 2, and team owners will vote on it at their meeting in May. Tara Green, director of sports marketing for the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau who will be working full time for the North Texas Bid Committee, said she expects Indianapolis to be the main competition.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach attended the announcement. Several committee members are mayors of cities surrounding Arlington, which is located between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said Jones has served in an unofficial advisory role, but can have ``as much of a role as he wants.'' Cluck said Jones will be a big help because he knows how the bid process works.

``He has a lot of sway,'' Cluck said. ``Jerry is the key to how this whole thing will work.''

Construction started this year for the new 75,000 seat, retractable-roof stadium, two years after Arlington voters approved paying for half of the original US$650 million price tag by raising sales, hotel and motel, and car-rental taxes.

The team, which will keep its Dallas name, has played at Texas Stadium in Irving since 1971.