In 2008, when Phoenix last hosted the Super Bowl, $500 million was reportedly brought in and it was the beginning of the recession.  In 2015, when Phoenix is hosting the Super Bowl again, Dennis Hoffman, Professor of Economics at the W.P. Carey School of Business, expects an increase in that number, attributing it to the fact that more people might be inclined to travel at that point and that Super Bowl attendees are some of the most well to do people that travel, so they report considerable amounts of spending at hotels, entertainment and venues around the stadium and in the valley, with some doing some traveling throughout the state as well. 

Hoffman says that if you want to compare the southern venues and people wanting to get out of cold weather, there is an advantage of the Indianapolis or Detroit venues and it gives the opportunity for millions of people to see these blue skies and wide-open vistas, to get people thinking that it might be a great place to visit or do business.

The confluence of Fiesta Bowl activities, which Phoenix will also be hosting in 2015, all the way through the Super Bowl, is going to make for a very lucrative time for businesses in the state.  Hoffman thinks the real benefit is in quantifying the long-term benefit of the imagery that is put into people's minds when they see these events broadcast to millions of people.

Dennis Hoffman is a Professor of Economics at the W.P Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.  For more information on him, click here.  Hoffman spoke with ASBA, Arizona Business News, a featured network of Sequence Media Group.