Nowhere in Star writer Chris Sikilch's article was any mention of Colts owner Jim Irsay's arrest on what should easily be felony drug counts if the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office ever gets around to doing its job. Undoubtedly Irsay's involvement in the presentation played no small role in Indianapolis losing the bid. Yet the Star didn't find it worth mentioning.
That didn't stop the Star though from mentioning what a great investment the Super Bowl is:
The Super Bowl means mega dollars for some local businesses. Organizers say the benefits of hosting a Super Bowl outweigh the significant public costs, pointing to an economic impact study of the 2012 game in Indianapolis that reported $152 million in increased local spending that originated from outside the Indianapolis area. The city, by comparison, spent about $1.3 million on public safety and event support.Wow, a $152 million return on a $1.3 million investment! Of course, every academic review of the economic impact of Super Bowls show that these return on investment numbers are pure fiction and that cities hosting Super Bowls at best break even and often lose money. But we can't expect a local newspaper to mention that can we?
2 comments:
Eventually we'll figure out that we shouldn't be hosting any of these darned events, or at least any that don't show a clear profit for local government. Maybe then all these darned people would stop coming here and driving on my streets and taking up space in businesses that ought to be waiting on me.
The Star didn't mention it because it wasn't part of the story. Indy lost the bid for the same reason it lost the first bid. Minneapolis has a new stadium.
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