Houston to bid for Super Bowl LI (UPDATE: Houston lands 2017 Super Bowl!)

Add in the revenue explosion that the big 3 leagues have seen over the past couple of decades and it's increasingly difficult if not impossible for them to claim that they need public assistance.

The times they are a changin', and I can see a huge shift in priorities in the near future.

 

Believe it or not, we have hotels that are constantly full here. Business travelers make up most of it, obviously...but I have friends who manage hotels here in Houston that are nearly perpetually full.

Remember, Harris County has already experienced revenue shortfalls from hotel/rental car taxes. The Harris County Sports Authority has already been sued by its surety because they weren't bringing in enough revenue to support their own bonds. The allegation was that the Sports Authority had less than half of the necessary funds it needed in reserve to keep the bonds in place. They've fallen short in revenue projections every single year, as I understand it.

We're talking about bonds in excess of $1 billion.

If the County were asked again, in 15-20 years, to build new stadiums for the teams here...giving the current stadiums a lifetime similar to the Dome...I don't think it would be possible, financially.

 

Yes, teams have to kick in more... but there are also cases such as Arlington and Cobb County (Atlanta) where the teams are willing to move out of the central business district simply because thats where the money is.

 

That's the part that draws the reaction, right? I mean, the NFL is printing money right now. They're a behemoth. They're demanding Wifi for their "big game." And the public has to pay for it? Come on.

 

If all the hotels are constantly full, how are they falling short on revenues from the hotel taxes?

Possibly... but its also easy to say that now once we've had all three teams secured/safe for the last 20 years. It was a VERY different landscape once the Oilers left and the Rockets/Astros could have easily left as well... and as long as teams have other cities for "leverage", along with cities knowing what its like without said team (Seattle would bend over backwards now to bring back the Thunder/Sonics), it will be nearly impossible to keep public financing completely separate from public sentiment.

 

I imagine with the current issues in the Oil and Gas industry, these projections would go down a bit:
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2013/09/19/oil-gas-new-convention-center-hotel.html?page=all

 

I didn't suggest they were ALL full.

Also tax revenues are based on rates charged. A percentage of the room rate each night. If projections were based on higher than realized room rates, that could factor in as well.

But you are aware they've not brought in nearly as much money as they said they would, right? You're aware that the HCSA has been sued more than once for that by its surety, right? And that they've never really met a projection in any single year since they started up and began funding, right?

That's the problem with all these sports stadiums...their means of funding and their total cost are understated while their impact is grossly overstated. That's been the M.O. in nearly every market. The beneficiary is the sports leagues that pull down revenues in the billions, and yet somehow convinced us they need public funding to operate. Ridiculous.

I'm not talking about 20 years ago...I'm talking about now and in the foreseeable future. Even if we wanted to publicly finance new stadiums for our teams here in the next couple of decades, I'm not sure how I see that would be remotely financially viable...unless you want to increase sales tax in a city that already has among one of the higher sales tax rates in the nation. Good luck with that.

 

No question about it. I know occupancy rates at two Energy Corridor area hotels have already dropped lately.

 

Well, that's my point... theres a good chance none of these stadiums would have been built with almost complete public money had the Oilers never actually left (then again, if they never leave... i'm not sure if the other teams would have had the stones to threaten to leave also).

And even with that loss of a team, the measure barely passed.

Certainly with some of the most recent stadiums, you see teams either building it largely on their own, or moving to a suburb of the same city that will.

 

Well, the responsible party is the county... or the majority tennant (of which there is none at Reliant).

I wonder if the Astros pay out of pocket for all the improvements at MMP over the years (new video board, remodeled club/suite level this year), or is there built-in financing for that? Then again, they are the sole tenant. Same with Toyota Center.

Also, who makes the most money off the final four games at Reliant (my guess is the county).

 

I know just enough about this to be dangerous, but I believe the Stros have paid for most if not all of the remodeling at MMP. Not sure about the fixes to the roof (structural-type stuff).

 

It's probably just a function of getting older, but my priorities/thought in this arena have certainly changed. Seems yours have as well.

We went through this in Marble Falls a few years ago. They hiked the property tax rate in the city to build a $17M football stadium. As my dad said, "I loved HS football, it was great to me/for me, but those boys don't need a $17M stadium."

 

So Houston does or doesn't need a boost in its economy???

 

Yeah, that makes sense... since they see all the revenue from the suites/club sales at MMP (even for non-Astros games... as those events are usually sponsored by the Astros).

 

So guess those tax dollars couldn't be used elsewhere if not on new WiFi for stadium?

We're not even on another important topic here....how the hell is upgraded club levels and WiFi costing 50 million dollars?

You should check out what's happening over on Cullen with their new stadium as well. Huge mess. How's that stadium on the Amazon working out? Sochi? I love sports and all but this has gotten out of hand.

 

No, it can't... not without another referendum put to a vote

Then again, Houston voters approved to use federal funding for a rail project that isn't being done in completion, so not sure voting approval means a whole lot when it comes to allocation of funds.

 

LOL. Yes, we need to invest millions of public dollars so we can host a football game one weekend. That will certainly provide meaningful jobs lost to cheaper oil.

 

Correct...the Astros just spent between $5 - $10million improving the club section at MMP. I'm told it looks entirely different...can't wait to check it out.

 

Didn't say it would provide jobs... but are you saying that hosting a super bowl will not help "this" economy at all?

Again, I understand certain cities do not necessarily get "excess" tourists just for this game, but Houston is not one of those cities. Every Super Bowl and Final Four will draw more people to this city than if they didn't have the game here at all.

And again, all these cities crying about it (as it does make for a good "story" after the fact) will not hesitate to bid on the game again... so something tells me that the actual "profits" they make aren't all that minimal (even though it is in all likelihood "less" than what is being thrown out there).

The Olympics are an even bigger perceived boondoggle (along with the world cup)... but it certainly did not stop San Fran, Chicago, and LA from going all in to become the next US host city.

 

I've seen it... its good... MMP, despite being the oldest of the three new ones, is by far the best stadium Houston has ever had.

I applaud the new regime for making much needed updates to keep the stadium top-of-the-line (and rectifying the mistake of the community leaders billboard)... now they need to keep tal's hill, get rid of the "fowl" poles, more open roof games (or opening roof mid-game), and eventually add seat carts to the train and sell those seats for a very unique vantage point.