Report: Super Bowl brings over $370M in new spending to Minnesota

Super Bowl LII brought in more than $370 million in new spending to Minnesota, according to a report from the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee. 

An economic impact study conducted by the committee found the Super Bowl generated $450 million in gross local spending--$50 million more than the original estimate. After adjusting for displaced tourism, the study found $370 million of the $450 million was spent solely on local tourism. 

“The success of this enterprise is just phenomenal,” Gov. Mark Dayton said after he was presented with the findings. 

Out of 125,000 visitors, 83 percent have shown an interest in coming back and inquiries into visiting Minneapolis are up 30 percent. 

During the 10 days of festivities, hotels saw three times as much revenue as they normally would that time of year and during Super Bowl weekend, they had a 98-percent occupancy gain. 

“It does show Minnesota can host events well, even at the worst time,” committee CEO Maureen Bausch said. 

In 2017, the Super Bowl in Houston brought in just under $350 million. 

Tuesday marked the official hand-off of the “Gold Shovel” to the Atlanta host committee as they prepare to host next year’s Super Bowl. Each year, the symbolic shovel is passed from the former host committee to the next. Last year, Houston also gave Minneapolis a birch tree, which students helped plan at Currie Park. That sparked a tradition and another tree was planted this year.