Sports

Super Bowl winner could be economy

With yesterday’s bid announcing that Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 will be held in the new Meadowlands stadium in New Jersey, there was plenty to cheer about in the metro area. Most fans certainly were happy, but businesses, hotels and restaurants, probably had more to be excited about.

The estimated economic impact which will result from that Super Bowl will be somewhere in the $500 million-600 million dollar range. This figure includes all spending in the two months leading up to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz. (2008), which the Giants won, generated $500 million dollars, the record for any Super Bowl. This year, Super Bowl XLIV in Miami generated approximately $460 million for the surrounding community, and next year’s in North Texas is projected to bring in $610 million.

“The NFL has calculated that somewhere between $500 million-550 million will go to the surrounding community [New York/New Jersey] where the Super Bowl is held,” said Jim Kirkos, head of the Meadowlands Liberty Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We are in a very unique area that we’re next to the greatest city in the world, and I also think there won’t be a hotel room available in all of North Jersey.”

The past two Super Bowls have each generated about $150 million dollars in visitor spending alone. The Super Bowl in the New York area could easily eclipse those numbers.

Most hotels in Manhattan get booked years in advance, which means many people who attend the Super Bowl may have to stay in smaller towns in New Jersey. So while New York City gets most of the attention, New Jersey should get their fair share of income, too.

“Of course it’s going be centered around New York City, however, the Super Bowl attracts a pretty wide fan base,” Kirkos said. “There’s going to be thousands of people that are going want a less expensive alternative to New York City and there are many who will want to get a local flair of the community in New Jersey. We think that we can capture in New Jersey about $200 million of that $500 million impact. Our goal would be 30 to 50 percent of the economic impact in NJ,” Kirkos said.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was at Redd’s Restaurant and Bar yesterday afternoon when the announcement was made, was thrilled.

“The economic impact will be great all across the state of New Jersey, the restaurants, bars, hotels, the other entertainment complexes. I’m convinced that the Meadowlands will have a lot of great things here. It will be great for the economy, but more important it’s great for New Jersey’s morale,” Christie said.

“There’s going to be so many people here at this game, that New Jersey will get its share. The restaurants are going to be packed, the hotels will be sold out. So this is not a competition between New York and New Jersey,” he said.

To put things in perspective on just how much money this will generate, just look at New York’s baseball teams. The Yankees paid attendance in 2009 was slightly over 4 million, with an average ticket price of $72. The Mets paid attendance was a little more than 3 million, with a $37 average ticket price. This means that just under $417 million was brought in by the two teams in a season, which is still $100 million short of what the Super Bowl is estimated to bring in.

Having a new $1.6 billion 82,000-seat state-of-the-art stadium helped the cause, too.

“The new stadium is spectacular. They have thought of everything relative to the fan experience,” Kirkos said.

And those fans should help generate a lot of money for New York and New Jersey come February 2014.