County likely out $1.3M for Super Bowl costs
Reimbursement for game support not part of deal
After the New England Patriots stunned the Atlanta Falcons with a storybook comeback in Super Bowl LI, after the crowds drained away and the national spotlight left Houston, Harris County officials turned to organizers and asked to be repaid for security and around-the-clock support, part of $1.3 million the county spent on America’s biggest sporting event.
The answer, so far: Don’t count on it.
Super Bowl Host Committee officials say they would like to reimburse taxpayers but are not obligated to because the county did not, in its offers of support for the weeklong event, negotiate that it be compensated or repaid by organizers. The city of Houston did and has been repaid $5.5 million by the host committee.
Now, five months after the game, the back-andforth has some local leaders questioning the costs borne by the county for the game, which was in the countyowned NRG Stadium at no cost to the National Football League, and whether the county will provide similar support in the future.
“It is very shortsighted,” said Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle. “There will be future events, future Super Bowls.”
County officials could not say why they did not negotiate a repayment agreement when they decided to support Houston’s bid for the Super Bowl in 2013 — instead offering a resolution of support for the game guaranteeing
some assistance at no cost to the NFL. It is unclear if the county asked the host committee for a guarantee of compensation or reimbursement then.
A spokesman for Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said, as far as Emmett was concerned, a resolution like the county passed in 2013 would “never be used again.”
“The judge has now made clear that, before any future Super Bowls or major events like these transpire at a county-owned facility like NRG stadium, that there is going to have to be some type of an agreement where the county receives a share of the revenue from that,” said Joe Stinebaker, Emmett’s spokesman. Public spending vs. sports
The debate over public spending for professional sports has gained steam in recent years as governments find themselves stretched to cover essential services and taxpayers are more aware of their support of multimillion dollar businesses, said Mark Conrad, director of the Sports Business Program at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University.
Conrad said the NFL “does not have to be nice” and will continue to push for any public support it can get.
“If I would predict, I would think the county is going to be eating the million dollars-plus,” Conrad said.
An NFL spokesman referred questions to the host committee.
It is not the first time local officials and organizers have felt the league’s weight. The Houston Chronicle earlier this year uncovered a series of concessions officials and organizers gave to the NFL in order to land the Super Bowl, including the use of at least three entire hotels, including presidential suites, for both teams and the league; a perimeter that would be established around NRG Stadium with lawenforcement personnel limiting unauthorized marketing to protect the game’s sponsors; and two golf courses and a bowling alley reserved for a time.
Harris County rejected NFL demands that it spend $45 million for upgrades, including revamped club seating and suites, ahead of the Super Bowl, which NFL executives said in 2015 the county should have made to create a “special” Super Bowl experience. Positive economic impact
And while there is debate over the necessity and level of public support for organizations like the NFL, many also laud the game’s impact. Super Bowl organizers tout some $347 million in economic impact from the game, the amount visitors spent while in Houston.
“I think the Super Bowl was a success, a massive success for Houston, for Harris County,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack said. “I hope we have an opportunity to do it again real soon.”
Radack said he hoped the county would not get “stiffed” but added that he would use his own precinct budget to cover whatever the county did not get reimbursed if it meant the Houston area could host events like the Super Bowl.
“I think, frankly, the Super Bowl is a bargain,” he said.
Stinebaker said the county did expect to spend some money to hold the game, money that ultimately would benefit the community in Harris County.
According to officials, the county’s Super Bowl-related spending included more than $480,000 for Harris County Sheriff’s Office surveillance and patrols at Discovery Green, where the bulk of Super Bowl festivities were held, as well as air patrols, and anti-human trafficking efforts.
The homeland security staffing ran close to $75,000, and equipment and upgrades to NRG Complex’s radio and internet coverage — primarily for law enforcement purposes — cost nearly $700,000. The county says the communications investments can be used beyond the Super Bowl. Organizers vs. county
Super Bowl organizers say the county did not ask to be reimbursed for the whole $1.3 million it says it spent, which county officials dispute.
The county awaits a response to a reimbursement request for $450,000 spent on operations at the request of the Houston Police Department, including K-9 units, surveillance from watch towers and the operation of a bomb unit.
“They were good partners, they spent funds on it, so if there’s a way to reimburse the county, for some or all of what they have spent, then we’re going to look for that,” said Chris Newport, executive vice president and chief of staff for the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee. “But we don’t know if that’s going to be possible or not.”
Newport said the host committee is waiting to find out how much money it will receive from the state before it can consider reimbursing the county; the maximum the host committee could receive is roughly $25.4 million.
Newport said the host committee had about $22 million in outstanding loans that it had to pay back first, before it could reimburse the county.
He said he expected to let the county know how much it could be reimbursed, if at all, in two months.
He said the Super Bowl “wouldn’t have been the success that it was without the county’s contribution.”
Stinebaker said the county is “hopeful, but not necessarily optimistic” that it will be reimbursed its costs.
Radack said he has asked the county attorney’s office to see what measures could be used to recoup any money spent by the county.
“I’m not going to sit here and quibble over this damn thing,” Radack said. “I want every damn penny we can get, but it was an economic success.”