After Sunday, Castor takes the reigns for Super Bowl LV

TAMPA, Fla. - Super Bowl 54 will draw visitors from all over the world to Miami this weekend.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor will be among them but she's not just going for fun. This trip could inform how her city handles the big game next year.

After the confetti falls at Hard Rock Stadium, Castor will attend a “hand-off” ceremony where Miami hands the reigns to Tampa for the next Super Bowl, number 55.

Eleven years ago, Castor was the assistant Tampa police chief during Super Bowl 43. Then, she oversaw the multi-jurisdictional security plan for the game at Raymond James Stadium.

“The idea is to keep anything out of the stadium, any issues from occurring inside the stadium. They'll have local, state, federal agencies, anywhere from 60-80 groups in the command center, watching the airspace, watching the foot traffic, cars, spectators inside the football stadium,” Castor explained.

Next year's Super Bowl in Tampa will be the city's fifth overall. It's a major operation and a lot has changed since her last go-round.

The mayor says her trip down south will include lots of note-taking.

”As my background in law enforcement, we're always looking for lessons learned and best practices that we can implement in our city," she said. “What I’m looking forward to next year is to be able to show off our city to showcase the Tampa Bay area and show what a great area we have to live, work, and play in.”