Super Bowl Could Inject $400M Into Indianapolis

CHICAGO — Indianapolis is expecting an infusion of anywhere from $125 million to $400 million from hosting Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5.

Nearly all of that money, however, will come in the form of direct spending on local businesses.

The city itself is expecting to spend little and earn little in new tax revenue.

And the bond-issuing board that runs Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Super Bowl will be played, expects to lose money on the big game.

The Marion County Capital Improvement Board, which manages the city’s sports facilities and convention center, has set aside $8 million to cover Super Bowl-related costs in its $85 million fiscal 2012 budget.

The CIB expects to earn about $7.2 million, mostly from a handful of tourist-related taxes.

That leaves a gap of $810,000, or 10% of the board’s Super Bowl budget, which the board expects to cover by dipping into its reserves.

The total cost of hosting the Super Bowl will reach around $33 million. That includes the CIB’s $8 million budget and the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee’s $25 million budget.

The host committee’s budget is derived entirely from private and charitable donations.

“We had those commitments in May 2007 when we first bid,” said Dianna Boyce, communications director for the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee. “We walked in with a fully funded bid, and the [National Football League] said that’s unprecedented for any city before or since.”

Officials are expecting 150,000 visitors to flood Indianapolis in the weeks ahead of the game. Based on past Super Bowls, visitors could spend anywhere from $125 million to $400 million, mostly on shopping, food, beverages and hotels, Boyce said.

Because the Lucas Oil Stadium is located in a professional sports development area, all tax revenue within its borders goes to either the CIB or the state. In addition to the board’s game-related tax revenue, Indiana will also see a jump that is projected to reach about $800,000, said chief financial officer Dan Huge.

The state will use that money to make debt service payments on the three-year-old, $750 million stadium.

The CIB expects to earn total tax revenue of $7.2 million, Huge said.

The NFL will contribute $4.1 million of that to cover the CIB’s labor costs. Tax revenue from hotel-motel receipts, food and beverage receipts, automobile rental taxes, and others will bring in another $2.9 million, according to the CIB’s projections.

The biggest cost to the CIB will be reimbursing the city up to $4 million for the cost of providing police security around the stadium and in the so-called Super Bowl Village.

Mayor Greg Ballard proposed that the CIB reimburse Indianapolis for Super Bowl-related public safety costs as part of his 2012 budget.

“Had the CIB not agreed to the $4 million, the taxpayers would be paying the bill for the Super Bowl, as opposed to using the proceeds generated from the event itself, which seemed like an entirely appropriate use of that revenue,” said Marc Lotter, Ballard’s communications director.

The CIB will also lose around $700,000 from lending its convention center to the NFL for three weeks leading up to the Feb. 5 game.

The board will not be able to rent out the space during that time, and has agreed to let the NFL collect all concessions and food revenue in the convention center and the stadium. “January is generally a slow month for our conventions,” Huge said.

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