Bears/Jets Super Bowl Would Bring Most Economic Benefit To Dallas

Added on Jan 22, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Super Bowl

One of the major justifications for cities wanting to host a Super Bowl game is the economic windfall it brings. While there’s debate on exactly how great this benefit is and who exactly benefits the most, there’s no doubt that a high profile event that brings 100,000 or so fans with even more media and hangers on into an area does provide some boost to area businesses. But not every Super Bowl matchup is created equally, and an article in the Dallas Morning News suggests that the biggest economic benefit for North Texas would be produced by a Chicago Bears vs. New York Jets matchup.

At the most basic level, this isn’t exactly rocket science–New York and Chicago are the country’s #1 and #3 most populous cities. Pittsburgh is #61 and Green Bay #268. In theory at least, a bigger market means more fans who are ready, willing and able to take a trip to watch their team play in the Super Bowl. Sportsbooks in Las Vegas and off shore would probably also benefit from the bigger market teams playing the Super Bowl. Obviously there’s no shortage of people anxious to bet on Super Bowl action, but the presence of a New York and/or Chicago teams would provide an even bigger boost. The Bears would likely bring in a visit from President Obama, since he tries to act like a fan of the Chicago sports teams to suggest–all evidence to the contrary–that he’s a ‘regular guy’. In any case, a visit from Obama would bring in even more media and hangers on. Phillip Jones, head of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, demonstrated he at least understands basic mathematical concepts:

“I think there’s some merit to the line of thinking that we’ll see a bigger impact if the bigger cities’ teams come.”

Eric Langan, who owns seven high end strip clubs…err….”gentleman’s clubs”…in the North Texas area says that getting the Jets in the Super Bowl is key. A New York/Chicago Super Bowl would mean an extra $750k to $1 million for his clubs:

“Getting New Yorkers here would just make all the difference. It’s not that they’re not all great fans — but for every Steeler fan out there, there’s nine New Yorkers who might see us. It’s just numbers.”

There’s also a strong possibility that New York vs. Chicago would bring more benefit to high end restaurants, clubs and retail in the Dallas area relative to Pittsburgh and Green Bay. New York and Chicago are also two of Dallas’ three biggest convention markets, and have a much larger corporate base that could potentially bring business to North Texas. Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau Head Jones says that it would be a good opportunity to show that the city is more than J.R. Ewing wanna-be’s in 10 gallon hats:

“I’d hope they’d give us a fair shot and see what modern Dallas has become,” he said, adding that 5,500 media credentials for the game is a record. “I guess some media would and some wouldn’t. It’s just a huge sales opportunity for us. I hope fans come who may have not been here in a while and say to themselves ‘Boy, things have changed down here.’”

Economist Ray Perryman of the Perryman Group has researched the spending habits of Super Bowl visitors and concurs that the bigger markets offer more bang for the host city:

“The typical Super Bowl attracts around 40,000 people who come just for the festivities and do not actually attend the game. A larger population base to draw from tends to increase this number.”

The bigger populations and free spending ways of New Yorkers notwithstanding, you can expect a couple of busy weeks at Dallas area ‘gentlemen’s clubs’ no matter what the matchup.