Clark Sieben said Indianapolis saw $324 million worth of economic activity owing to it 2012 hosting gig.

Davis said the business community is firmly behind the bid to win hosting rights for the national television event, which he called "a chance to put us on the world stage."

With a quick swipe of his pen, Gov. Mark Dayton made Minnesota the 12th state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages as a crowd of more than a thousand watched on the front steps of the Capitol Tuesday.

Minnesota will witness a multimillion-dollar referendum on the issue of gay marriage in 2012. Opponents of a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman raised $1.2 million in cash contributions in 2011.