Hosting the Super Bowl is not a cheap gig. On Sunday, February 5, 2012, the most anticipated sports event of the year will be held in Indianapolis at the $720 million Lucas Oil Stadium. Due to hosting this huge event, the stadium has prompted local officials to raise hotel, rental car and restaurant taxes, plus other payments of about $43 million in unexpected financing costs.
Public funding for sports venues cost taxpayers an average of 40 percent more than the stated price for each of the 99 NFL stadiums built through 2001. According to Dan Huge, the chief financial officer of the Capitol Improvement Board, the organization has been successful in raising the revenue it needed to continue operating because of taxes on out-of-town guests. The hotel tax in Marion County, which encompasses Indianapolis, was raised to 9 percent from 6 percent, on top of a 6 percent state tax. Rental car taxes doubled to 4 percent, food and beverage tax was raised to 2 percent and surrounding counties added a 1 percent restaurant tax.
For this week leading up to the Super Bowl, an 800-foot zip line has been set up over part of downtown Indianapolis, to create what the city is calling the “Epicenter of Awesome.” Other attractions include a nightly light and pyrotechnics show, free concerts and ice sculptures. There is no question that the money being spent on the game and the stadium could be used for more important needs. The CIB expects to lose about $800,000 hosting the game, after paying for things like extra workers, maintenance, legal services, utilities and snow removal.
“The public still hasn’t had full disclosure of what it’s going to cost,” said Pat Andrews, the former Indianapolis City Council candidate. “It’s going to have to come out of services. And we don’t have any extra cash lying around.”
NFL owners voted in 2008 to hold the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis, with the hope that the game will have a potential economic impact of $286 million.
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