Bills Are Coming Due

The NFL awarded Super Bowl games for 2019, 2020 and 2021 on Tuesday. This made fans in Atlanta, South Florida and Los Angeles happy because the NFL’s marquee game will come to their town.

Forget this “we got the Super Bowl” stuff from the fans. Mostly they’re going to get bills. Or someone is. They’re surely not getting tickets. The NFL holds those closely and parcels them out to the 32 teams for season-ticket holders and sponsors.

The NFL now coaxes massive stadium renovations or entirely new buildings from cities and team owners with the promise of the Super Bowl. Atlanta’s new stadium will open in 2017 and gets to be the host in 2019. New Miami Stadium, with nearly $500 million of owner-funded renovations, follows. Then comes L.A., with a facility whose price tag could hit $3 billion, funded essentially by Rams owner Stan Kroenke (who wants to borrow $1 billion).

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, several members of Atlanta’s bid committee said they presented the NFL owners with a “fully funded” bid that estimated the cost of hosting the game at $46 million. Of that total, $10 million will come from a sales-tax exemption on Super Bowl tickets passed by the Georgia legislature this year, $16 million from a portion of the Atlanta hotel-motel tax designated for major events and $20 million from corporate donations, bid committee members said. Now that’s public support!

The South Florida bid included a budget of cash and incentives valued at more than $40 million. Of course the economic impact of this game and tourism is valued at $175 million, though economists will argue that. As if no one would go to Florida in the winter anyway.

A Super Bowl brings excitement, tourists and plenty of media attention. It does not come cheaply. And for the average fan? Maybe some pride, but also bills. And almost no chance to see the game from inside that marvelous new stadium. 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman