Among the visitors included in that estimate are the people setting up all the Super Bowl events. For example, Miami sports marketing exec Marco Marciano has been in Tampa since mid December, planning a golf tournament at East Lake Woodlands and a private party at Ybor City's Club 1509 with actor Carmen Electra, boxer Oscar De La Hoya and Bucs star Mike Alstott. Wait a minute, say some sports business experts. It's too simplistic to count all the visitors' spending as additional revenue for the host city. This debate is not simply an academic exercise.
Sports teams use economic impact numbers to help persuade cities to pay for new stadiums.
Some of the numbers thrown around are staggering. Perhaps the only sporting events with more impact are the Olympics and the U.S. Open tennis tournament, a two-week event that attracts many wealthy fans, she said. Davis' research uses so-called multipliers that estimate how the direct spending filters through the local economy. Supposedly, the infusion of cash helps businesses grow over time. No one doing these studies looks at how, for instance, attendance at museums falls 50 percent during a Super Bowl week.