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Tampa Super Bowl's Impact in Question
 Estimates put the economic impact from the 2001 Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa at $250 million. |
In 2001, the last time Tampa hosted a Super Bowl, the game’s economic impact on the city was estimated at $250 million. The game’s heft has only continued to grow with the years. In 2005, for example, Super Bowl XXXIX generated an estimated $300 million for Jacksonville, and Super Bowl XLI, hosted by Miami in 2007, brought in $463 million.
With the economy stumbling, some question whether Tampa Bay will see a dramatic jump in game-related spending when the region hosts Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1, but almost no one thinks the big game’s economic clout will shrink.
The Sport Management Research Institute of West Palm Beach, which studies the economic impact of major events across the world, including the 2007 Super Bowl in Miami, hasn’t seen a significant dropoff in major event attendance or spending as of October.
Kathleen Davis, the company’s CEO, cites a study this year by the University of Arizona’s W.P. Carey School of Business that found Super Bowl XLII, played this year near Phoenix, generated $500.6 million for Arizona. “And that was when we were starting to see inklings of shakiness in the economy,” she says.
Stuart Rogel, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership, thinks the game will provide a healthy counterpoint to what’s happening elsewhere in the economy. “At the same time when everyone is reading about foreclosures, the mortgage crisis and the financial meltdown, this gives us an opportunity to celebrate what’s good about our community,” Rogel says. “For us, the Super Bowl comes at a super time.”
