Tons of economic studies have been done on the benefits of hosting big events such as political conventions, World Cups, Olympics and...Super Bowls.
Some have said the expenditures by local governments-including paying for hotel rooms for both teams, NFL officials, a payout to the host team, and internal items such as increased security and overtime for law enforcement-doesn't equal the reward.
Miami, which hosted Super Bowl LIV this past Sunday, even waived sales tax on the cost of tickets to the game.
But experts and city officials say it's worth it and they expect to reap the general consensus of $400 million in economic activity from tourists.
"I do believe that the Super Bowl does generate, does have an economic impact of that order when you look at it in the overall context," said Florida International University business instructor Nicolo Alaimo. "At this time of the year, Miami is gorgeous. If you're up north freezing, you're watching this, you're going to want to be here-maybe not for the Super Bowl, but you'll want to come to Miami."
Rodney Barreto, chairman of the host committee, agreed.
"What we've seen in previous cities for the last three years is north of $400 million," he said. "If you think about it, all the people come in your airport, and stay in your hotels, use Uber, Lyft and Airbnb, restaurants. It just keeps multiplying."
As with any Super Bowl, large crowds were expected even if fans didn't have tickets. Tourism officials were expecting 200,000 fans and, year after year there are certainly enough events and parties during the week leading up to the game to satisfy those who couldn't get inside 65,000-seat Hard Rock Stadium.
In fact, Miami International Airport was expecting an exodus on Monday of 80,000 people-a single-day record for the airport.
The obvious, tangible rewards are reaped from the television audience for the host network, with Fox selling 77 in-game commercials at an average of $5.6 million per 30-second spot. But there are also ancillary benefits for the host city. According to reports, 99 million people watched Sunday's game, not to mention the day-long live pregame shows that served as a virtual love-letter to Miami.
In fact, Miami Tourism didn't even need to advertise during the game.
"It's priceless media coverage," William Talbert, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the Miami Herald. "It's at least a week of 24/7 Miami. The pre-show was a Miami infomercial."
There were enough features on the city and South Florida to more than make up for what would have been a $5.6 million expenditure.
How so?
Well, the numbers aren't in yet but here's an example of what a very small event earned in free publicity. In 2010, Chelsea Clinton got married in the small town of Rhinebeck, N.Y., a little more than two hours north of Manhattan. Hosting the wedding of the former President's daughter was a big deal for the town, and hundreds of media descended on Rhinebeck.
Rhinebeck earned a whopping $14 million in free publicity from three days of coverage, according to the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based firm Joyce Julius & Associates. Joyce Julius tracks all media mentions from newspaper, magazine, television, radio and internet stories, and, using its proprietary metrics, develops a dollar figure on what it would have cost to purchase such advertising.
Now let your mind wander what seven days of coverage meant to Miami for hosting one of the world's biggest events.
The city is already convinced, telling local media it would like to have another Super Bowl by 2030.
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