The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee is predicting a big economic windfall for the Twin Cities metro area when the 2018 game comes to Minneapolis.
A firm hired by the committee says it will result in $407 million in new spending in the metro area. Rockport Analytics claims that even when taking into account the tourists or business travelers who stay away because of the Super Bowl, the “net incremental spending” will be $338 million.
Some skeptics have already labeled those numbers as too high. It’s an issue that will be debated for years, even after the game, by Super Bowl boosters and economists.
More economic baloney on the public benefits of professional sports: $338m in spending during 2018 Super Bowl, https://t.co/llvQF1Tj5a
— Arthur Rolnick (@ArthurRolnick) April 12, 2016
Host Committee spokeswoman Andrea Mokros acknowledged to the Star Tribune that it isn’t an exact science, but added that the event will have a “positive impact on our community.”
But KSTP points out that Rockport claims their numbers are very conservative.
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Projections estimate the Super Bowl will attract 125,000 “non-resident visitors” spending an average of $620 a day on everything from hotel rooms, food and beverages, rental cars and shopping.
The report left out questionable spending and didn’t include things like media exposure.
But as Victor Matheson, a sports economics professor at College of the Holy Cross, points out Minnesota has the “good fortune” that it isn’t a tourist hotspot in early February.
