Super Bowl Cities: Economic Impact and Tourism Statistics

Kate Sukhanova

from The Tech Report on 2024-02-21 10:16 (#6JSB5)

The biggest sporting event of the year in the US is bound to have a significant economic impact. Over the last few years, Super Bowl cities have seen a lot of money inflow, as a result of increased economic activity around the big game.

With an influx of thousands of tourists who spent a lot on the Super Bowl tickets and will be spending big bucks on hotels, food, souvenirs, and other things, it's a lucrative time to be a Super Bowl hosting city.

But is there another side to the story? Just how beneficial is hosting the Super Bowl to the hosting city and its community and workforce?

That's what we're here to find out. In this guide, we dive into the economic and infrastructure impact and tourism statistics of the Super Bowl hosting cities - both the positives and the negatives. We also explore some of the controversies associated with certain Super Bowl hosting cities. Off we go!

Key Statistics for Economic Impact and Tourism in Super Bowl Cities

The Super Bowl consumer spending has been on the rise since 2021, when it reached almost $14 billion, and in 2024, it surpassed $17.3 billion.
Super Bowl 2023 generated $1.3 billion for its host city of Glendale, AZ.
This year's Super Bowl, held in Las Vegas, was forecast to bring the host city $600 million
Super Bowl 2024 was the most expensive one yet, with the hotel prices surging 140%, and the average rate per room being $573.
The stadium in Glendale, AZ, which was home to three Super Bowls, cost $455 million to built, 68% of which came out of public money.

Economic Impact of Super Bowls on Host Cities

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Typically, a Super Bowl hosting city gets a huge surge in tourism, leading to more people spending more money.

As you can see in our graph, the Super Bowl consumer spending has been on the rise since 2021, when it reached almost $14 billion, and in 2024, it surpassed $17.3 billion. 80% of the above figure is estimated to have been spent on beverages.

In the next section, we take a look at the revenue of host cities and financial benefits gained as a result of Super Bowls throughout the years, the created jobs, and the media exposure.

Revenue & Financial Benefits to Host Cities

It's simple math - the high consumer spending during the Super Bowl in the host city translates into high revenues for the said city. The minimum impact each year is estimated to be $300 million, and can reach up to $1.3 billion.

For example, Super Bowl 2023 generated $1.3 billion for its host city of Glendale, AZ. These figures represent a 40% increase since the last time Glendale hosted the tournament in 2015 ($720 million).

In previous years, the impact was similarly high - e.g., Super Bowl XLI made the hosting city of Phoenix $500.6 million in 2008.

Other cities and states also saw huge growth in revenue during the big game. For example, Super Bowl LVI held in 2022 was expected to produce economic benefits of up to $477 million to its host city of Inglewood.

And this year's Super Bowl held in Las Vegas was forecast to bring the host city $600 million. We don't have the post-game figures yet, but preliminary reports tell us that this figure was a rather conservative estimate.

However, some studies suggest that the figures outlined above don't necessity reflect the reality of the championship's economic contribution to the host city.

For example, a report from a West Virginia University expert says that in many cases, the Super Bowl host city is a popular tourist destination anyway. For instance, the game was held in Las Vegas this year, which is one of the biggest destinations in the US, and the expert argues that it would've received a huge amount of visitors and their cash irrespective of the Super Bowl.

Hospitality Prices Increase

Image Credit: Statista

It's common for the hotels in Super Bowl hosting cities to increase prices around the time of the event by as much as 300-400%. As you can see from the statistic above, in 2012, Indianapolis hotels multiplied their regular rates by 5x (Quality Inn) or 10x (Best Western).

If a hosting city doesn't have enough hotels to accommodate every Super Bowl fan, it's also bound to impact the city's infrastructure and economy.

For instance, in 2005, the Super Bowl committee had to arrange for several cruise ships in Jacksonville because the city lacked the infrastructure to host over 7,000 guests. There was no revenue sharing between the city of Jacksonville and the cruise companies.

The tendency to increase hospitality prices during the Super Bowl continues even today. The New York Times reported that Super Bowl 2024 was the most expensive one yet. The hotel prices surged 140%, with the average rate per room being $573.

Job Creation

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The economic boom of the Super Bowl results not only in high revenue figures, but also in increased employment. For example, in 2020, the Miami authorities reported that Super Bowl LIV brought to the area over 4,500 new jobs.

That number increased to 4,700 in 2022, when the game came to LA, and more than doubled in 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, creating 10,459 jobs.

These jobs range from catering to event coordination to security, with the bulk of them in the hospitality industry. However, it's important to remember that many of these jobs are of a temporary nature and are tied to the event specifically.

So, while they can significantly boost the economy of a hosting city for a short time, it should be kept in mind that the boost figures don't necessarily reflect the long-term economic situation.

Local Infrastructure Impact

Hosting the big game requires significant investments in infrastructure and security. Given that thousands of people flock to the host city every year, millions of dollars must be spent on security and new transport links - costs that come out of the city's pocket as they're not covered by the NFL.

For instance, it costs an average of $250 million of taxpayers' money to build a Super Bowl stadium.

Since Super Bowl hosting cities are decided several years in advance, the cities have a window of a few years to make the infrastructure improvements and even build the stadiums.

A significant long-term impact of the Super Bowl is that these improvements will stay in the city after the game, improving the experience of residents and visitors alike, and drawing more tourists and investments.

For example, Inglewood, which was the host city of Super Bowl LVI, had a negative reputation before the LA Rams got a stake in it in 2014. With the SoFi stadium (home to Super Bowl LVI) being built in 2020 for the 2022 championship game, the city gained a lot of real estate invesmtnets, and a lot of work was done to build other sporting venues.

Media Exposure

In addition to infrastructure improvements, hosting a Super Bowl can also put relatively unknown cities, such as Inglewood, on the map.

With thousands of visitors and millions of TV viewers tuning in, the social media engagement is off the charts, providing the host city with significant media exposure. For instance, Super Bowl LV was the second-most-tweeted sporting event in 2021, after the Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Of course, cities like Miami, which hosted the Super Bowl 11 times, and New Orleans (10 Super Bowls) don't need extra media exposure as they're already popular tourist destinations.

However, hosting it in a well-known city like Las Vegas can easily bring in brand-new audiences to the city, like the 2024 championship game is expected to do. Moreover, it's a point of pride for many cities.

Host Cities With Highest Impact of Super Bowl

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As we said above, Miami hosted the most Super Bowls (11) to date. As of 2025, New Orleans will have the same number of Super Bowls under her belt. Several other cities hosted the Super Bowl more than once, but some only once.

So far, Las Vegas only hosted one Super Bowl, which was a week ago. However, according to the preliminary estimates, the Nevada city saw a huge impact, as it was the most expensive Super Bowl ever. It was also the most-watched TV programme since the Moon Landing.

At the moment, it's hard to quantify the precise benefits of the Super Bowl. However, these statistics, coupled with the Taylor Swift effect, provide a very compelling argument that Super Bowl LVIII's host city will see the most impact out of all host cities throughout history.

Super Bowl Cities Controversies

Not all impact of the Super Bowls on the hosting cities has been positive. Many of host cities paid a lot of money for the privilege to host the event, and not all of them received a good ROI.

For instance, the stadium in Glendale, AZ, which was home to three Super Bowls, cost $455 million to built, 68% of which came out of public money. These expenses put the city in debt and made it lose $1 million in the 2008 Super Bowl.

Another host city that paid a lot for the privilege to host the Super Bowl - more than any other city, as of 2016 - is Indianapolis. The Lucas Oil Stadium cost almost $720 million to build, with $620 million of that being financed by the public money.

It was home to only one Super Bowl, and the state of Indiana didn't pay off the debt until 2021.

Another Super Bowl host city controversy encompasses several cities, and it has to do with cold weather. For example, when the game was hosted in New Jersey in an outdoor stadium in February, it was an experiment which wasn't well-received as snow and cold weather can easily impact the infrastructure of a host city.

Moreover, the measures taken to combat the cold were even considered excessive by some fans, as they complained the lamps were too hot.

Next Super Bowls' Hosting Cities

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We know that the next Super Bowl will be held in New Orleans - the host city's 11th championship game. The 2026 one, or Super Bowl 60, will be the second Super Bowl to be held in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara (SF).

We don't have the official confirmation of the host cities beyond 2027. According to the NFL, the 2027 Super Bowl will be held once more in the SoFi stadium in Inglewood, on Valentine's Day.

Final Thoughts

As you've seen from this guide, Super Bowl can have a tremendous financial impact on its host city, ranging from thousands of new jobs to millions in revenue. Moreover, the media exposure and infrastructure investments can impact the city for years to come.

However, many argue that not all Super Bowl impacts are positive. For instance, many infrastructure investments don't always pay off, and some financial impacts are only temporary.

For that reason, when quantifying the impacts of the championship game, it's important to counter-weigh the positive and the negative factors and consider other surrounding circumstances.

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