What produces a bigger economic boost: America’s Cup or Super Bowl?

By Eric Young, SF Business Times
What produces a bigger economic boost: sailing or football? The question takes on relevance in the Bay Area because San Francisco will host the America’s Cup this July-September. And it appears likely that the NFL on Tuesday will pick Santa Clara to host Super Bowl L in 2016.

It turns out that yacht racing may give the region more of an economic lift than football.

The America’s Cup is expected to lead to about $902 million in spending. That compares to the Super Bowl’s economic impact, which generally ranges from about $300 million to $550 million.

Now, of course this is not an apples-to-apples comparison. The America’s Cup stretches over several weeks, compared to the Super Bowl’s week-long schedule. Plus the tourists that come into town for the Cup tend to stay longer than one week and spend more per day than Super Bowl fans.

These numbers need to be read with the proper perspective, of course. Economic impact studies can be highly suspect. – Read on