The Cost of Hosting a Superbowl!
Friday, May 30th, 2014
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
A NEW SUPERDOME TO
GET A SUPER BOWL?
COME ON MAN!
There
is a great deal of whining going on down in the Crescent City over the loss of
the 2018 Super Bowl. Many New Orleanians
who were part of the bid process felt they were far and away the front-runners
to host the big game for the 11th time. After all, the year would be the city’s 300th
anniversary. It turned out that the rest
of the NFL couldn’t have cared less.
There might have been some sympathy towards New Orleans following
Hurricane Katrina in allowing the 2013 game to be played there. But a Super Bowl in New Orleans in the near
future seems like a real long shot.
To
win the Super Bowl, a city needs a new state of the art stadium that costs well
over $1 billion. Minneapolis, which won
out over New Orleans, spent that, and so did Atlanta, which seems a cinch to
get the bid in 2019.
Old
wounds no doubt came into play when opposing cities lobbied for their town, and
then quietly undermined the New Orleans effort.
Forbes Magazine referred to the blackout during the 2013 game saying
outage would hurt the city’s future chances.
And gouging hotel prices were also used against New Orleans. During the last game played in New Orleans, average
room rates skyrocketed on average more 300%, with some hotels exceeding 590%. And the hotel, motel tax is one of the
highest in America.
But
it’s the stadium. You just gotta have a
new stadium to hook a Super Bowl bid-right?
And the drums are already sounding for the State of Louisiana to pony up
a billion or so in an effort to bring the big game back to the Crescent City as
soon as possible. Local TV station WWL
raised the question in a headline that read: “Does New Orleans need a new
stadium to land a Super Bowl?” And one commentator
at the state’s largest paper, the Times Picayune, lamented: “Saints owner Tom
Benson needs to start planning for a New Stadium…New Orleans will not have a
chance in hell with all other cities having brand spanking new stadiums all
hoping for one chance to host the Super Bowl.”
So
does New Orleans need a new stadium? Sure,
if the public dollars are unlimited and the taxpayers don’t mind continuing to
paying through the nose. The current Superdome is just a few years away from a
$350 million renovation. That’s all
taxpayer money.
Forbes Magazine recently
reported that the Saints owner Tom Benson will receive almost $400 million from
state subsidies through 2025. “He negotiated one of the most complex —
and lucrative — stadium lease agreements in the NFL, adding to his fortune as his team was bringing in estimated yearly profits of $31 million. Over the 15
year the term of the lease, the state will pay Benson at least $198 million in
increased revenue from the Superdome, $142 million in rental payments on
property Benson owns, $10 million in bonuses for bringing the Super Bowl to New
Orleans and $2.6 million in tax breaks.”
Then there is the agreement for
the state to lease space in a downtown office building being purchased by the
Saints owners. The building is adjacent to the Superdome and the state is
to lease more than 320,000 feet at $24 dollars square foot, which is one of the
highest rental rates in the state today. So Louisiana taxpayers are basically
paying the cost of the building the Saints ownership is buying.
“That’s incredible. I‘ve never
heard of that one before,” said Robert Baade, an economist at Lake Forest
University who studies stadium financing. “There is no end in how creative
governments get to supporting subventions. That’s just another form of
subsidy.” Just how much more in public
subsidies will taxpayers be willing to pay as other state programs are being
cut to the bone?
New Orleans has been on a roll
hosting far more Super Bowls than any other city. Now other cities, with justification, are
demanding part of the action. Winner Minneapolis
has hosted one Super Bowl in the past, and Atlanta only two. New Orleans can well rest on its laurels, and
it’s time will come again, sometime down the line. For now, Louisiana taxpayers, who have paid
out massive state tax dollars, need a well-deserved break.
*******
“Some
people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much
more serious than that.” Bill Shankly
Peace
and Justice
Jim
Brown
posted by Jim Brown @ 11:15 AM
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