A study released today reported that the Super Bowl’s economic impact to South Florida was $333 million. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that $333 million is a significant drop from the $463 million the 2007 Super Bowl brought to South Florida’s economy. Despite the drop, however, the study is being used as evidence that public money should be used to renovate Sun Life Stadium and make it an attractive venue for future Super Bowls.
“Every major city in America wishes they had a Pro Bowl and Super Bowl on their books for February 2010. We were fortunate to have that kind of business,” host committee chairman Rodney Barreto said, per the Sun Sentinel. “It was business that was needed. . . . Hey, it’s better than zero.”
Yes, it’s “better than zero.” But “better than zero” probably isn’t going to be enough to convince taxpayers to spend millions of dollars to renovate the stadium.
Dolphins CEO Mike Dee says the team will need to convince the taxpayers to pitch in, because the team can’t do it alone.
“There has to be a public-private component to this,” Dee said. “There has to be some participation if we’re going to finish the job.”