ATLANTA – Indianapolis was awarded the 2012 Super Bowl on Tuesday, the fourth time a cold-weather city will host the NFL’s championship game.

The new retractable-roof Lucas Oil Stadium was runner-up to Dallas last year. This time, Indianapolis beat out Houston and Arizona for the game, which will be played Feb. 5, 2012, for the title of the 2011 season. Part of the bid includes a pledge by the city to build a practice facility downtown that will be left in place for local residents to use.

“We like coming to new cities and we look forward to being in Indianapolis,” commissioner Roger Goodell said in announcing the bid. “We also liked the idea of a donation left for the citizens.”

The next two Super Bowls are in Tampa and South Florida.

Of the 42 Super Bowls, the three played indoors in cold-weather cities were in Detroit in 1982 and 2006 and in Minneapolis 1992.

Indianapolis wants to create a Super Bowl village downtown – a pedestrian-friendly area complete with fire pits to make “warm zones.”

In its bid, the city touted its $700 million stadium, scheduled to open in August, and its experience hosting major sporting events such as the Indianapolis 500 and the NCAA Final Four.

Rosenbloom: Rams staying put

ST. LOUIS – One of the new owners of the Rams says he has been approached by “several people” about selling the team and there is “every intention” of keeping the NFL team in St. Louis. Chip Rosenbloom issued a statement Tuesday, denying a report by Yahoo Sports that the team was on the market and being shopped for up to $900 million, with a sale raising the possibility of a return to Los Angeles.

The story quoted former 49ers owner Eddie Bartolo and cited other unnamed sources.

“When a team is passed from one generation to another it becomes to some a calling card that the team must be for sale,” Rosenbloom said. “So to reply to this (Yahoo) article: Nothing has changed since my mom’s passing.”

Rosenbloom is the son of Georgia Frontiere, who moved the Rams from Anaheim, Calif., to her hometown of St. Louis in 1995.

Frontiere died in January of breast cancer, and her son and daughter Lucia Rodriguez now run the team.

Rosenbloom said the owners have been approached “by several people,” but did not elaborate.

In a written statement, Rosenbloom stopped short of saying definitively that the team would not be sold but reiterated that there are no plans to relocate.

He said that while he and his sister deal with their mother’s estate, “I can assure you we have every intention of keeping the Rams in St. Louis and will have no further comment on this article.”

It wouldn’t appear likely the Rams could be moved anytime soon, even if they were sold. The lease agreement with the Edward Jones Dome requires that the team remain in St. Louis at least through the 2015 season, assuming upgrades of the dome have been met, said Brian McMurtry, executive director of the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority.

McMurtry said $30 million is currently being spent on improvements expected to be completed by July 2009, including a new scoreboard.

The Yahoo story quoted DeBartolo as having “slight” interest in purchasing the Rams.

Of a return to Los Angeles, DeBartolo told Yahoo, “It would be something to look at … But it wouldn’t be my first choice of a franchise if I chose to get back in.”

AP-ES-05-20-08 1746EDT