NFL.com

Super Bowl XLVI - The non economic impact - Ingles


Excited, hungry Super Bowl visitors showered money on Morton's, a tony steakhouse on East Washington Street just a few blocks north of the Super Bowl Village.

More than 1,200 people flocked to the restaurant last weekend, more than twice the usual crowd. To handle it, Morton's brought in servers and chefs from a sister restaurant in Cleveland and asked all local employees to work hard and stay focused.

The return was handsome. Morton's rang up nearly $250,000 in sales Friday and Saturday, its best weekend ever. Management is hoping for a lot of repeat business, both in Indianapolis and in other Morton's locations across the country.

"I think we made a lot of new friends," said Carla Monroe, sales and marketing manager.

But money wasn't falling from the sky everywhere. Even though more than 1 million people had flocked to the Super Bowl Village to take in the festivities, some business districts just a few miles away -- including Fountain Square, Broad Ripple and Indiana Avenue -- didn't see much of a difference in crowds or spending.

"I was mildly disappointed," said Craig Von Deylen, chairman of the Fountain Square Merchants Association. "I wouldn't say the Super Bowl was that much busier than what we normally see."

So the biggest blast in Indianapolis history is over. It cost taxpayers and private donors tens of millions of dollars. It took more than two years of solid planning.

Was it worth it?

Many say yes.

Experts say the Super Bowl brought a massive boost to some area businesses, with $150 million or more in direct spending by visitors.

City leaders say the event's nearly flawless execution and overwhelmingly positive reaction gave the city a huge shot in the arm. They predicted the Super Bowl experience would generate more convention business, tourism and mega-events.

And Indy can forever refer to itself in capital letters.

"We are a Super Bowl city," said Leonard Hoops, president and chief executive of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association.

Others, however, are less sure the city will get much of a long-term payoff.

"Super Bowls have a very good short-term kick," said Mark Rosentraub, professor of sport management at the University of Michigan, "but nothing that's going to change the economy of Indiana for the long term."

Others are even more blunt.

Justin Ross, professor of public finance and economics at Indiana University, said that even in the short term, Super Bowls are usually only a break-even affair, if that.

"The consensus opinion is that Super Bowls do not produce economic benefits and possibly produce a little bit of a loss."

It could be weeks or months before a full accounting is done. But a partial report card of the Super Bowl is beginning to emerge. It shows that Indianapolis taxpayers and donors dug deep to host the event. Still unclear is how much the city will gain in the long term.

First, a look at some of the expenses.

Last year, Indianapolis city government projected it would spend $7.8 million to $8.2 million on Super Bowl expenses. That would pay for police overtime, trash pickup, new signs, safety vehicles and supplies, and temporary permits.

(It includes spending by the Indianapolis departments of Public Safety, Public Works and Code Enforcement. It also includes spending by the Capital Improvement Board, a public entity that operates Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center, host of the NFL Experience.)

That's a lot of spending. Fortunately, some money would flow back to city coffers and to the CIB, in the form of $4.1 million in reimbursements from the NFL, $3 million in increased hospitality tax collections, and a few hundred thousand dollars in concessions revenue, temporary permits and license fees.

That adds up to about $7.3 million in revenue. Bottom line: a shortfall of $458,000 to $868,000.

Most of the difference, officials say, will be absorbed by the CIB's operating reserves, which are generated primarily by hospitality taxes.


Brian Mahern, the City-County Council's vice president and a frequent critic of administration spending decisions, said there's reason both to revel in civic pride and to examine the costs to ensure that hosting the Super Bowl "was a prudent financial decision."

"There was a fair investment of time and public money in this event," Mahern said. "As public officials, we cannot get caught up in the excitement at the expense of not caring what the expenses say."

The final numbers accounting for city employee overtime and other costs likely won't be in for several weeks or even a couple of months, City Controller Jeff Spalding said.
True costs?

Beyond the direct spending to put on the Super Bowl, there were additional millions of dollars spent to help lure the mega-event to Lucas Oil Stadium, which was designed in part to accommodate the Super Bowl and opened in 2008 at a cost of $720 million. Taxpayers are footing most of the bill in the form of food and beverage taxes, sports admission taxes and tourism-related taxes.

Last year the city spent $12 million to transform three-block Georgia Street just north of the stadium by permanently adding a pedestrian mall down the center. That stretch of Georgia Street served as the Super Bowl Village.

In addition, the city spent a large portion of its $425 million RebuildIndy program to repair decaying roads, bridges and sidewalks. Much of the work slated for Downtown Indianapolis was completed ahead of the Super Bowl.

Also on the expense side: The city gave the NFL free use of many Downtown facilities, including Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center.

The Super Bowl Host Committee said it raised $25 million to $28 million from corporate and other private donors to pay for the committee members' salaries and for a wide array of expenses, from bus-shuttle service to training sessions for cabdrivers and hospitality workers.

So did Indy get its money's worth?

Many merchants say so. Visitors showered cash on Downtown restaurants, bars, hotels, cabs and gift stores.

Harry & Izzy's, an upscale grill on South Illinois Street, on the edge of the Super Bowl Village, did three times its normal business last weekend. "We did numbers we only dreamed about," said Jeff Smith, operating partner.

He said businesses could reap long-term benefits, and the city could become competitive for other major events. "Indianapolis showed the country what we could do," Smith said.

Still, it's difficult to measure spending. Sales tax receipts, which would show how much of a bump the city got in retail spending, won't be collected and analyzed for several more months.

The Host Committee said it is not conducting an economic impact study. "We've said all along it could be anywhere from $125 million to $400 million, because there are so many factors and so many groups," said Dianna Boyce, spokeswoman for the Host Committee.
Economic impact

Last month, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, a major accounting firm, predicted visitors would spend about $150 million on lodging, transportation, meals, entertainment, tourism services and business services. The firm declined to discuss the factors or assumptions that went into its estimate, calling its study proprietary.

Still, the $150 million would be on par with some other recent host cities, such as Tampa, Fla., and New Orleans, but it would be less than Dallas/Fort Worth or Glendale, Ariz. (See chart accompanying this story.)

One positive aspect of the game: Much of the spending probably came from out of town. That's an infusion of new money, not just local money that changes hands.

Then there were "legacy" projects whose benefits will be felt long after the Super Bowl. The $11 million Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center opened on Tech High School's campus. It is home to a gleaming fitness center and classrooms that will host events for students and residents in that low-income neighborhood.

Overall, the Near Eastside has received $154 million in publicly and privately funded development in recent years -- all of it claimed by the city and Host Committee as an offshoot of their Super Bowl efforts, but some items on the list are private or nonprofit projects that may have proceeded without the Super Bowl. Super Bowl-related projects have included new and rehabilitated housing and apartments, and new retail stores.

And then there are the intangible effects: a possible boost to the city's image, or the likelihood of more convention business.

It's difficult to know whether a flood of new bookings will materialize. But the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association said there are positive indications. Planners of two midsize conventions selected Indianapolis either as a new site or for a return visit based in part on their observations of Super Bowl week, the ICVA said.

Hoops, the group's president, said peers from other cities have emailed, expressing sudden worry about the threat Indianapolis might pose as a competitor for convention business.

But how likely is it that one event will draw an avalanche of convention bookings? Not very, some experts say.

Local organizers and boosters often exaggerate the benefits and underestimate the costs of hosting major sports events, said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

"At the margin, you might pick up an extra show or two," he said. "But remember, you spent $700 million on a new stadium, and one or two extra conventions is not a great rate of return on that investment."
Image boost

And then there's the city's image.

Thousands of sportswriters and commentators from around the world descended on Indianapolis during Super Bowl week to soak in the party and take the pulse of the city. Many of them -- from the New York Times to NBC -- gushed about the city.

"Super Bowl XLVI's real winner? Indianapolis!" said a headline in Forbes.

But some analysts were a little more cautious. A national poll after the Super Bowl by Competitive Edge Research & Communication concluded that Indianapolis did not get an image boost.

"Despite being referenced eight times by announcer Al Michaels during the game and seven 'bumper shots' of the city on a clear night, Indianapolis' national profile failed to take off," the study found.

On the other hand, at least Indianapolis did not take an image hit, as some other host cities did. Last year, the reputation of Arlington, Texas, slipped 5 percent among Super Bowl viewers, in part for how the city handled a sudden winter storm and a kerfuffle over a shortage of stadium seating for ticket-holders.

Bottom line: Return on investment is difficult to measure. The glow from the Super Bowl could last for years, and bring a boom in new business to the city.

Or it could just be a feel-good diversion.

"If you ask this week: Do people feel better about Indianapolis -- especially the people who live there? I would say yes," said Matheson at Holy Cross. "And that's worth something."

(source Indianapolis Star)

Posted by Necesitamos Mas Football on 10:19 a. m.. Filed under , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0

0 comentarios for Super Bowl XLVI - The non economic impact - Ingles

Publicar un comentario

Recent Entries

Recent Comments

Photo Gallery