A Super Bowl Economic Boom For NYC? Not So Much

Will the snowy New York City area really reap an estimated $600 million economic boost from the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium? Probably not.

Despite such lofty predictions, sports economists say the financial impact of the Super Bowl could fall far below expectations, in part because visitors often spend their cash at NFL-sponsored or corporate events rather than at tourist attractions. Some hotels say Super Bowl bookings are running behind what they hoped for, prompting them to ease demands for minimum stays and room deposits. And academic studies show that at best, past Super Bowls generated tens of millions, not hundreds of millions.

“Move the decimal point one place to the left,” said Robert Baade, a professor at Lake Forest College in Illinois, who has studied the Super Bowl’s impact on local economies. “The NFL says $500 or $600 million? I think $50 to $60 million would be a generous appraisal of what the Super Bowl generates.” Read more here.

{Matzav.com Newscenter}