Now, all Tampa needs are fans
Posted: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 10:30 PM
TAMPA, Fla. - Super Bowl Week is supposed to be a time of wretched excess. But two days into Super Bowl Week, Tampa was still looking for the first hints of the crowds to come.
Even some media organizations seemed to be delaying their arrival. Broadcast locations in “Radio Row” in the Media Center remained empty. The crowd seemed down at Media Day. Cabbies were complaining that business was too slow for their liking.
The party hub of Tampa is the Ybor City enclave, easily reachable from downtown by an old-fashioned trolley. On Tuesday night, the organizing committee hosted a party for the media in the historic district. One reporter leaving at the end of festivities at 10 p.m., wandered over to the heart of Ybor City to find the place a virtual ghost town. Big bars stood with their doors open and a handful of locals nursing beers. Vehicle traffic as sparse. Fans in football jerseys were nowhere to be seen.
Earlier in the week, representatives of the organizing committee, Tampa and both Hillsborough and neighboring Pinellas counties had defended their hosting of the Super Bowl against some reporters who questioned the economic impact of the event.
Numbers are hard to come by and open to question, but last year the Phoenix area claimed a total economic impact of more than $400 million because of the Super Bowl. This year, Tampa is claiming that it and neighboring areas will see a benefit of at least $300 million.
That is based on an expected 100,000 visitors. Eight years ago, when Tampa last hosted a Super Bowl, officials said that 74,000 more travelers than normal passed through the airport. They also reported the largest hotel tax receipts for the year.
Officials have worked hard to polish up the town and make it as attractive as possible for first-time visitors, hoping that those visitors will come back and talk their friends into visiting, as well. In hard economic towns, with tourist destinations competing hard for dwindling dollars, the organizers feel the Super Bowl can’t possibly hurt the local economy. Government officials said they have worked hard to arrange personnel schedules to minimize overtime during the week.
A week before Super Bowl Week, local papers had reported that the organizers had raised just $6 million of their $7 million target. But on Monday, organizers reported that sponsors had come through and fully funded the budget.
Now, all Tampa needs are fans. Traditionally, the real crowds start arriving Thursday, one reason being that many hotels require a four-night minimum for the weekend of the game. Tomorrow, we’ll begin to see how hope will square with reality.
