Attracting Super Bowl to cost 21 million

Apr 2, 2013 by Guest Writer

Bringing the 50th Super Bowl to South Florida in 2016 is expected to cost as much as $21 million, according to a Miami Herald investigation.

The game — the championship game for American football — is held each February, usually two weeks before the Miami International Boat Show and the Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami Beach.

 

But the National Football League has required cities to reserve three weekends for the game, giving it the option of lengthening the season. One of those weekends is President’s Day weekend, the same weekend as the Miami boat shows.

 

At issue is the availability of hotel rooms. The boat shows are one of South Florida’s busiest tourist weekends for hoteliers. Twice before, South Florida has declined to offer that weekend to the NFL, and as recently as November Miami-Dade tourism director William Talbert said it would not be “physically possible” to hold both events at the same time, the Herald reported.

 

Yesterday, however, Talbert said enough lodging was secured to pursue a Super Bowl that overlaps with the President’s Day stretch, the newspaper reported.

 

The $21 million is needed to host an array of pre-game activities and events and will come mostly from sponsorships, but also from local governments and hotel taxes. According to the Herald story, the Miami

 

Dolphins want tax subsidies for a stadium renovation, and have cited the Super Bowl as a primary reason for holding a countywide vote on the plan before NFL owners award the game on May 22.

 

Read the full Miami Herald story here.

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