Super Bowl’s shine a bit less than expected
The game and the events with it provided a lift, but spending was less than projected
The receipts are in, and February’s Super Bowl LI appears to have been a substantial boon for Houston — albeit with slightly less spending than expected.
The receipts are in, and February’s Super Bowl LI appears to have been a substantial boon for Houston — albeit with slightly less spending than expected.
Gross spending during the nine days of Super Bowl programming, minus the amount of usual tourism displaced by the event, came to $338 million, according to a consultant retained by the Host Committee. That’s a bit off the $372 million originally projected by the same firm, Pennsylvaniabased Rockport Analytics.
The discrepancy occurred because the costs of goods and services were lower than expected, even though the number of outof-town visitors was higher than anticipated, at 150,000, according to Rockport Analytics. In particular, visitors spent about half of what was expected on rental cars because of the availability of carsharing service Uber and special Metro routes.
Host Committee Chairman Ric Campo, the CEO of apartment developer Camden Properties, said that should still be counted as a win for Houston, since it allowed more people to come to the party.
“One of the things that the Host Committee really worked hard on was affordability,” Campo said. “We didn’t want you to have to go to Discovery Green and spend $100 to feed your family.”
The total impact includes $228 million spent on wages and $39 million spent on state and local taxes. Although that number was about $6 million lower than projected, it was more than enough to pay back the state for the $25.4 million the state advanced the Host Committee, with $15 million in proceeds.
The city spent $5.5 million on costs such as security and trans-
portation, and has been fully reimbursed by the Host Committee, Super Bowl officials said.
More donations also allowed the Host Committee to bring in scores of bands, including ZZ Top, which doesn’t come cheap.
In addition to the financial impact, officials played up the game’s halo effect for the city’s image, and the benefit of catching the interest of potential customers. Houston First President Mike Waterman said several of the 16 convention organizers he brought down to see the event have committed to bringing conventions to the city.
“We weekly get customers coming to Houston and saying they saw us shine during the Super Bowl, and now they’re interested in booking a meeting here,” Waterman said.
And Waterman is already looking forward to the next one: Houston First is preparing its bid for the 2024 game.