ABSTRACT
Large-scale events hold significant symbolic value for a diverse range of terrorist actors. The perceived requirement for event security also serves another purpose; as an ideal urban laboratory for the testing of an array of new technologies, techniques of social control, or security procedures, that are seen as necessary as part of the War on Terror, as well as their permanent embedding into the everyday urban landscape. In the post-9/11 context of the War on Terror, large events have evoked increased security concerns. A state which has security as its only task and source of legitimacy is a fragile organism; it can always be provoked by terrorism to turn itself terroristic. The United States (US) Super Bowl is the most watched, single-game, sporting event in America, with the National Football League’s (NFL) awarding the hosting of the event only to a ‘Super-Bowl-ready’ stadium that has stringent security plans in place.
