The Super Bowl has come and gone, but the ramifications and success of the event’s activities will be felt in Phoenix for years to come, Phoenix and Super Bowl committee officials said at a press conference on Monday.
“The number of people in Phoenix for these events was unprecedented and we will be seeing specific economic results in the near future,” said Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. “I know our early economic numbers were that it would be about $500 million economic impact to this entire community and the state of Arizona. I’m confident that those numbers are on track.”
Stanton said he saw positive international coverage in and around Phoenix during the week’s activities, including Verizon Super Bowl Central, which was the largest event ever held in the city.
On Saturday, the NFL Experience hosted 177,000 people, which is the largest number of event attendees at the Phoenix Convention Center in its history, Stanton said. No specific number has been put on the number of people who attended the Verizon Super Bowl Central, but it’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of people visited the attraction, Stanton said.
Stanton said that numbers pertaining to Phoenix’s public transportation soared as well.
Bus use was up 30 percent and 2013’s light rail ridership record was nearly doubled this past Saturday from 66,000 to 126,000 riders, according to Stanton. To put these figures into context, Stanton said that the typical number of light rail riders on an average Saturday is 35,000.
David Rousseau, chair of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee and Salt River Project president, said the activities in downtown will change the way that residents and visitors will look at the area.
“I think what we would all agree is that we’ll never look at [the Verizon Super Bowl Central plot] the same again,” Rousseau said. “And it’s something that was born three years ago when this effort started.”
The Super Bowl’s benefit extended to charitable organizations across the Valley. Rousseau said the host committee and the NFL gave more than $2 million dollars spread among 27 non-profit groups.
Despite its contributions to their bottom lines, downtown businesses, including those that were outside of the Verizon Super Bowl Central, faced challenges in dealing with the crowds.
Drew Decker, manager of Phoenix Public Market Cafe, said the Super Bowl activities taught him that there is no such thing as being too prepared. They were challenged with customer service, gauging the amount of people that would be present and communicating with purveyors.
The increased foot traffic had a positive impact upon the business, he said. Also, because his restaurant was separate from the Super Bowl activities, people were able to find a location to not be disturbed by the hectic downtown activity.
Blanca Ash, general manager of Fired Pie in the Collier Center, said the restaurant gained one typical week’s worth of profit in a single business day.
Ash said the restaurant did not face many issues with the increased foot traffic because of their preparation.
Contact the reporter at Coleton.Berry@asu.edu.
