Boosters estimate the economic impact of San Diego
hosting the Super Bowl to be $230M, according to Michael
Stetz of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The city is expected
to get a "jolt" of $4M in taxes, most of which will come
from the hotel occupancy tax, which is projected to generate
$2.4M. However, the $230M economic impact figure is being
"met with skepticism by some economists because they
question the depth" of those studies. Robert Baade, an
economist at Lake Forest College (IL), noted that such
studies don't take into account "how many people will avoid
San Diego" during Super Bowl week, and he wondered how much
of the money "is simply being redistributed, not added."
For its part, the NFL this year is paying Price Waterhouse
to do an economic impact study of the Super Bowl (UNION-
TRIBUNE, 1/21). In L.A., Chris Kraul reports that direct
spending by visitors, NFL/teams and the media "in recent
Super Bowl host cities has been estimated" between $80M to
$100M. San Diego is donating more than $600,000 in police
and other municipal services while relinquishing" all
parking/concessions to the NFL (L.A. TIMES, 1/22).
