What the Super Bowl means for the AZ economy

Football fans are headed to the valley the Super Bowl and taking part in a variety of events leading up to the big game. Dr. Anthony Evans, Senior Research Fellow at L. William Seidman Research Institute, sits down with Ted to discuss what this activity means for the state’s economy.

“This is major,” said Evans. “This is the biggest event in the U.S. sporting calendar.”

When the game came to Arizona back in 2015, it created $719.4 million in output for the state’s economy. Thursday, Evans and a team of his students will begin collecting data to calculate the number for this year’s Super Bowl. This total dollar amount will include money spent by fans, organizations and media.

“The world has changed a lot since 2015, so it’ll be interesting to see what the spending profile of people will be,” said Evans. “What I can tell you, is that there will be 90 to 110 thousand people will descend upon the valley, that will be people with tickets and they’ll come down with their families.”

Football fans coming in for the game will also enjoy other attractions around the state. Approximately 6,000 media personal are traveling to the Grand Canyon state, and number of large businesses will host events in the valley. All of these will create revenue for Arizona’s economy.

The average person spends between $400 and $700 per day, excluding Super Bowl ticket prices. Some of this spending goes toward hotel prices, which are up to three times higher than usual, according to Evans.