Hosting the Super Bowl could be a $1 billion jackpot for these 4 cities
Cork Gaines
- The estimated economic impact of recent Super Bowls in host cities has surged to over $1 billion.
- Experts predict Las Vegas could get $1.1 billion in gross economic impact from this year's game.
The Super Bowl is heading to Sin City for the first time, and a lot of money is coming with it.
The big game is expected to have a gross economic impact of $1.1 billion for the Las Vegas area, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority along with research from Applied Analysis, a quantitative analysis firm, provided to Business Insider. The city typically sees about $300 million in gross economic impact during Super Bowl weekends.
Vegas was also expected to receive a $1.3 billion boost from the recent Formula 1 race in November. According to Jeremy Aguero, a principal analyst at Applied Analysis, that event was bigger, in part, because of the $500 million F1 invested in a new building for the race and public infrastructure. Additionally, Aguero previously told Business Insider that fans of these big sporting events in Las Vegas tend to stay longer and spend more than typical tourists to the city.
But this isn't the first time a Super Bowl has brought billions to a host city. Last year's game in Glendale, Arizona funneled $1.3 billion to the local economy, according to Arizona State University researchers.
According to the school's research, last year's Super Bowl added $726 million to the state's GDP, and over 102,000 people came to the area for the event, spending $221 million while in town. They also determined that the game helped create 10,459 jobs worth $494 million in income for local residents.
According to Applied Analysis, this year's Super Bowl is expected to create 6,433 new jobs and $282 million in salaries and wages.
If Super Bowls continue to bring billions to host cities, here are the locations that could reap big benefits in the years to come.
Super Bowl LVIII (2024) — Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada
The NFL's first trip to Sin City for the Super Bowl is one of the reasons ticket prices are soaring. On the first day after the AFC and NFC Championship games, the cheapest tickets were selling for nearly $8,000, and the average was close to $11,000, according to TicketIQ.
The NFL typically rewards cities that build new state-of-the-art stadiums with a Super Bowl, and Las Vegas fits that bill. Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020 and cost an estimated $2 billion. Of that, about $750 million came from public funding, and the Super Bowl will go a long way to repaying the area.
Super Bowl LIX (2025) — The Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans was originally announced to host Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 but was bumped back a year.
This will be the 11th Super Bowl held in New Orleans and the eighth to be played in the Superdome, with three earlier games held in Tulane Stadium.
A University of New Orleans study after the 2013 Super Bowl found that the game generated a $480 million net impact for the region.
Super Bowl LX (2026) — Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California
Levi's Stadium previously hosted the 50th installment of the Super Bowl in 2016, when the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers in Peyton Manning's final NFL game.
The Super Bowl in 2016 generated at least $240 million in economic impact for the area, according to research firm Sportsimpacts.
Of the $1.3 billion needed to build Levi's Stadium, a little more than $1 billion came from public funding or loans. However, recent estimates show that the stadium has already generated more than $2 billion in economic impact, and the loans will be paid off 15 years early. And that's before the 2026 Super Bowl.
Super Bowl LXI (2027) — SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California
This will be the ninth time the Super Bowl will be played in the Los Angeles area, third only to Miami with 11 and New Orleans with 10. This will also be the second game hosted at SoFi Stadium, as it was also the home of Super Bowl LVI in 2022.
The 2022 Super Bowl in Inglewood was projected to generate between $234 million and $477 million. That game came during the pandemic. The 2020 Super Bowl, before COVID-19, brought in $571 million to the Miami area.
SoFi Stadium came with a price tag of $5 billion, but the entire facility was privately funded by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke and the NFL. However, the stadium does receive tax breaks from the city that could reach $100 million.
Super Bowl LXII (2028) — Unknown
Several NFL cities would love to host this game, but they could get competition from a surprising location — London.
On several occasions, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has opened the door for using the league's biggest game to increase its footprint in Europe. The league has already played 36 games in London, including two each season since 2019 in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
This would be the first Super Bowl held outside the United States. The time zone is the biggest challenge. If the NFL wanted to keep the game in the same primetime slot for the American audience — 6:30 p.m. ET — it would have to kick off at 11:30 p.m. locally.
If London does not get the big game, that could open the door for Houston, which has hosted three Super Bowls but none since 2017. That game was believed to have been worth $347 million to the area.
Detroit could also be another contender. The city has hosted two Super Bowls, but not since 2006. Estimates of the value for the most recent game vary widely from $49 million to $300 million.
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