Super Bowl: Economists Hedge Bets On Big Economic Returns

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The old line "if you build it, they will come" from "Field of Dreams" is cited often when economic development experts and business leaders start talking about new stadiums in their metropolitan markets across the nation and how they promise millions in dollars of tax dollars.

And, as hundreds of thousands of people pour into the Twin Cities this week ahead of the 2018 Super Bowl, there certainly is evidence that a city will see some return on their investment. But, as noted in a New York Times story on Monday, how much of a windfall that might be is debatable and hard to definitively tally.

Between the city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota, nearly $500 million in public funding was poured into US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, which opened in 2016. In return for that sort of investment, the Super Bowl alone should contribute an estimated $343 million, including $29 million in tax revenue, to the local economy, reports The Times, citing a local economic impact study.

But, as The Times reports, sports economists point out that the return is often exaggerated. One economist, Victor Matheson from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., put the return on a Super Bowl between $30 million and $130 million.

Another economist, Frank Stephenson, at Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga., suggested that reports of hotel rooms being booked solid is a stretch. While most rooms will be booked, if the Super Bowl wasn't in town, Stephenson said that many of the rooms still would get booked by people anyway.

And when it comes to costs that the locals must bear for a Super Bowl, the laundry list is quite long. According to a Minneapolis Star-Tribune report, the host city must provide police escorts for the teams and their owners, hotel rooms, parking and transportation. The host city's police must also provide special policing to ensure that only properly licensed NFL souvenirs are sold.

The New York Times cited that report, too, and noted that the phrase "at no cost to the NFL" appears 65 times in the report.

Af you're lucky enough to get inside US Bank Stadium for the big game, if you need cash you will only be able to one of the special ATMS for NFL preferred credit and debit cards, according to the Star-Tribune.

And, indeed, people will come to Minneapolis this week. But, their stay will not be cheap for out-of-towners – or the city of Minneapolis.

>>> Read the full article in the New York Times

Image via US Bank Stadium