University of Notre Dame Finance Professor Richard Sheehan, who specializes in the economics of sports and is the author of “Keeping Score: The Economics of Big-Time Sports," can scrutinize the Super Bowl's economic impact from multiple angles. He says...

"What is it worth to a franchise to make it to or win the Superbowl. Team valuations are substantially impacted by making it that far and that's likely the only reason that the Patriots are viewed as one of the most valuable NFL franchises. Market size clearly matters as well, but a Superbowl win really turbocharges the franchise value. There's a reason why the Bills, Bengals and Lions are at the bottom of the rankings of franchise values! What is the value/cost to the host city? The tab for hosting now exceeds $50M but the list of cities bidding doesn't appear to be shrinking so the question becomes how much of a boost does the event contribute to the local economy. The cost of hosting has increased dramatically as the NFL recognizes how much the game appears to be worth and boosts the application fee. Both the prior two have been considered in some dimension for some prior events, but no one to my knowledge has ever broken those numbers down and asked what do they mean for an average resident of Houston and how do the financial costs and benefits compare with the nonfinancial cost and benefits, e.g. heightened community pride vs. increased traffic. Houston's cost is about $22/person. If you're in Houston, how do you feel about that burden?"

Sheehan is available for further comment at 574-631-5212 (office), 269-683-4974 (home) or [email protected]