Readers Chime In With Super Bowl Costs Updates And More

Alert readers have added links and information to help us flesh out the costs to taxpayers for the City of Indianapolis and the State of Indiana to host the 2012 Super Bowl.  I simply have the best readers !  Thanks to all the Anonymi and those who have sent links through email.

The latest blog entry on this topic was posted a couple of days ago here (see "Super Bowl Costs FINALLY Beginning To Be Revealed") and just today Gary Welsh comments on an WRTV report that 7000 fewer seats are being added to LOS for the big game than originally planned (see "7,000 Fewer Tickets For Super Bowl Being Sold Than First Promoted" over at Advance Indiana).
Here's a round up of comments and email alerts that you might miss if you don't check old comment streams.
1) The free-to-ride IndyGo buses are being underwritten, at least in part, by corporate donations and some local visitor bureaus.  From Anonymous 2:26:

I believe bus service is being provided with corporate sponsorships and extra government funding. 

During the week of the Super Bowl, Monarch Beverage and World Class Beer will be sponsoring free shuttle buses that will run between downtown, Fountain Square and Mass Ave taking visitors to bars, restaurants and stores along the route. On that bus will be advertising for our “Drink Local” campaign along with a Twitter hashtag, #IndianaBeer.

http://in.worldclassbeer.com/2012/01/08/indiana-beers-for-the-super-bowl/ 

The Hancock County Visitors Bureau agreed to chip in $3,600 to fund the service.

The visitors bureau already is underwriting the $17,000 cost of bus service between Greenfield and downtown Indianapolis on Super Bowl weekend.
http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=135&ArticleID=63533

The first link leads to a website promoting Indiana Beers

During the week of the Super Bowl, Monarch Beverage and World Class Beer will be sponsoring free shuttle buses that will run between downtown, Fountain Square and Mass Ave taking visitors to bars, restaurants and stores along the route. On that bus will be advertising for our “Drink Local” campaign along with a Twitter hashtag, #IndianaBeer.

During Super Bowl week, we strongly encourage everyone to use the #IndianaBeer hashtag to get the word out about local beer and where it can be found anywhere that Super Bowl attendees might be drinking!

The 2nd link offered leads to a piece by Arika Herron of the Daily Reporter who writes:

Super Bowl visitors who stay in Hancock County in the days before the game will be able to ride a trolley to visit restaurants, shops and other attractions around town.

The trolley service will be a key connector between the hotel cluster near Interstate 70 and attractions that are farther away, such as downtown.

The Hancock County Visitors Bureau agreed to chip in $3,600 to fund the service.

The visitors bureau already is underwriting the $17,000 cost of bus service between Greenfield and downtown Indianapolis on Super Bowl weekend. 

2) Seems the LA Times is dissing the parking prices for the Super Bowl.  From Anonymous 2:30:

LA Newspaper Tells Readers To Stay Home 

$399 for Super Bowl parking? And still a 20-minute walk?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/01/399-for-super-bowl-parking-and-still-a-20-minute-walk.html  

Much of the blog entry cited, discusses a report by WTHR's Ricn Van Wyk:

Fans who don't even know which teams are playing in Super Bowl XLVI are already buying parking spaces.

Lots and garages are charging fans much more than usual on Super Bowl Sunday. A $6 space across from City Market will cost $99 on game day.

...

Denison has about 10,000 spaces available and figures the whole week of Super Bowl activities could be worth a million dollars in parking fees, depending on who is playing and if the cities are within driving distance of Indianapolis, Gould says.

A short distance from Lucas Oil Stadium, PanAm Plaza is charging $129, neighboring Union Station is charging $99 and a downtown garage $59.

...

The most expensive advertised parking spots - at $399 - are the furthest away. The family-owned TWAY company expects to make a little money from fans with big RVs and party plans.

3) The figures just released for the CIB loss and their contribution to the City for IMPD costs associated with the big game apparently are in flux.  From Anonymous 7:53:

Fox 59 is reporting that the NFL is actually reimbursing the city only $3.5 million instead of the $4.1 million the CIB is touting. Raising the the CIB's projected loss from $810,000 to $1.4 million.

It doesn't take much questioning to find that this event has been financially mismanaged from the very start.

Much like our $750 million white elephant gift to Jim Irsay.

I am starting to wonder if the true economic impact may be negative if this cold weather Superbowl (during a down economy) doesn't attract the projected 150,000 out-of-town visitors that CIB needs to get to a direct spending threshold of $150+ million.

The NFL shortfall comment is at end of the broadcast.

http://www.fox59.com/videogallery/67474629/News/IMPD-concerns-about-Super-Bowl-safety

P.S.

This public safety meeting also uncovered that security plans are still up in the air, two weeks before the event, and the police union wants overtime pay, while management is trying to keep cost down by adjusting shifts and eliminating vacation days.

The FOX59 video report by Aishah Hasnie mentions that IMPD has received the funds.  These funds were not appropriated for spending at budget time.  Once that step is taken, we will have an opportunity to see what the final numbers are for costs and CIB donations.

4) This nugget from Anonymous 12:00 is served best without an introduction:

The NFL has tentatively called a brief owners meeting for Feb. 2 in Indianapolis, three days before the Super Bowl to approve financing for the planned 49ers stadium, including providing up to $200 million in funding grants from the league.

Should Indianapolis feel like they got ripped off holding the bag on $750 million Lucas Oil Stadium with potential Superbowl hosting losses as a "reward"????

Heck, Irsay just got a NFL loan, not a grant.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2012/01/17/niners-stadium-nfl-funding.html

The San Francisco Business Times reporter, Eric Young says:

The Niners appear to be getting ever closer to lining up funding for a new stadium in Santa Clara.

The SportsBusiness Journal reports that the NFL within three weeks could approve financing for the planned stadium, including providing up to $200 million in funding grants from the league.

 5) And last but not least, as mentioned in the opening paragraph, Gary Welsh's take on WRTV's report of 7000 fewer seats in LOS for the Super Bowl than originally expected.  From WRTV reporter Kenna Kooi:

Despite the simmering excitement surrounding the upcoming Super Bowl, NFL officials said Indianapolis will host the smallest championship game in 20 years.

In the buildup to Super Bowl 46, officials had considered adding extra seats at Lucas Oil Stadium, taking the total from 63,000 to 70,000 seats on Super Bowl Sunday, but officials have drastically reduced the addition down to 254. 

As Welsh rightly points out:

This is still going to be a big event for the city, but in comparison to the number of visitors who come here every year to attend the Indianapolis 500, it's a much smaller event. The Colts have had plenty of sold out games over the past several years that have drawn as many visitors downtown. Clearly, Super Bowl planners are banking on a whole lot of fans coming into town to experience the atmosphere of the big game, who don't have tickets to the event. Given the marketing campaign for the Super Bowl Village in Central Indiana, planners expect to draw most of those additional visitors from the local market.

That's it for the moment.  Thanks to all the eagle-eyed contributors to this blog for their comments and for going the extra mile to put more information into the hopper.