T Report: Super Bowl economic impact down a bit from last time game was here

The Super Bowl will add about $153 million to South Florida's economy this year, about a 25 percent drop from the last time the big game was in town, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The report from the hotel consultancy should cheer Super Bowl boosters, who see the game as an economic windfall, even though the estimate falls a bit short of organizers' claims of the game's spending heft.

In 2007, when the Colts played the Bears in South Florida's last Super Bowl, PwC put the game's impact at $195 million. Thanks to the recession, that remains an NFL record for PwC's annual tally.

When the Super Bowl came to Tampa last year -- months after the worldwide financial crisis began -- the game generated about $150 million, PwC said.

``Spending will once again be constrained by prevailing economic conditions; however, compared to last year, South Florida will benefit from the return of several Super Bowl-related hospitality events, the higher hotel room rates in South Florida versus Tampa and a larger stadium capacity,'' wrote Robert Canton, director of PWC's sports and tourism division.

While large hotels report near sell-outs for Super Bowl weekend, others say they're disappointed by weak demand . Anbritt Stengele, whose website sportstraveler.net sells Super Bowl packages, said in recent days she's been contacted by hotels anxious to fill beds they thought would be booked by now.

Canton's report is more optimistic than estimates from several economists who study sporting events and generally put a Super Bowl's spending boost between $50 million and $100 million. One of the main criticisms those economists level is that reports such as Canton's ignore the spending by tourists who would visit host cities even if the game wasn't being played there.

In an interview, Canton agreed that normal tourists get crowded out by Super Bowl, but noted the game is scheduled years in advance, allowing vacationers to pick other dates for a South Florida visit.

``You can say that about any event,'' Canton said of criticism about so-called ``displaced'' tourists. ``Say Marriott brings a small convention to town. Do you want to say that convention doesn't bring any economic impact because another convention would have come anyway?''

PwC's estimate of a $153 million Super Bowl boost covers Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

In a 2007 report, organizers of South Florida's Super Bowl estimated the game generated $297 million in direct spending and another $166 million in indirect spending.

The Super Bowl's economic impact will get more scrutiny this year as the Miami Dolphins float a proposal to use tax dollars to fund stadium improvements estimated to cost about $200 million.

The team warns that without the improvements it will be harder for South Florida to compete for future Super Bowls.