Super Bowl concert series on track, Rosie Moncrief says

Once Super Bowl XLIV is in the books Sunday night, the North Texas Host Committee's focus shifts to March 6 and the event that officially opens the run-up to next year's big game in Arlington: the Faith Hill concert at Bass Hall.

Hill's concert is the first of three events in the Kick-Off Concert Series, which was created to raise funds for Host Committee activities. The series is a first among Super Bowl host committees.

Rosie Moncrief, the wife of Mayor Mike Moncrief and an honorary co-chair of the concert series, said Friday that the committee has raised over $2 million of its initial goal of $3 million.

She also said that a series sponsor has signed on and will be announced "in the near future."

Sting is the second act, in May, but the final performer has yet to be named.

That last concert will be Sept. 10 at Cowboys Stadium, and Moncrief said fellow co-chair Charlotte Jones Anderson, daughter of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, is working to find a worthy act.

"I said, 'OK, you've had George Strait, you've had the Jonas Brothers, you've had Paul McCartney, you've had U2, and we had Diana Ross at the Gala opening. How do you top that? ' " Moncrief said.

Moncrief said that a portion of the money raised by the series will help with the NFL Youth Education Town scheduled to be built in Arlington and SLANT 45, the service learning initiative created by the committee.

Both are described as "legacy programs" designed to leave a mark on the area long after the Super Bowl leaves.

-- Kathy Vetter