State awards Houston $25.4 million to put on the Super Bowl

Construction work in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown continues in advance of the 2017 Super Bowl Oct. 27, 2016, in Houston. ( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Construction work in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown continues in advance of the 2017 Super Bowl Oct. 27, 2016, in Houston. ( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: James Nielsen, Staff Photo: James Nielsen, Staff Image 1 of / 51 Caption Close State awards Houston $25.4 million to put on the Super Bowl 1 / 51 Back to Gallery

The state's trust fund for helping out with major events has awarded Houston $25.4 million to defray the cost of putting on the Super Bowl this coming January and February, based on the amount it expects to collect in taxes from all out-of-state visitors.

That amount includes $3.5 million in local sales, auto, hotel, and beverage taxes that flow into the trust fund, which is available to all cities hosting large events as a way of competing to bring them to Texas. When Dallas hosted the Super Bowl in 2011, it was awarded $32.1 million, based on an expected state revenue bump of $26.9 million (the local share made up the difference).

Since 2011, the trust fund has come under scrutiny for having lax oversight and failing to demonstrate that it makes the difference in attracting sporting events to Texas over other states. Still, it made it through the 2015 legislative session mostly unscathed, enduring only a move from the comptroller's office to the governor's jurisdiction.

The Chronicle has submitted a freedom of information act request for the economic impact study used to justify the amount.

It's welcome news for Houston's Super Bowl host committee, which was still working to reach its private fundraising goals last week, as we described on Sunday. The committee had expected a trust fund award in the $20 million to $25 million range.

The Super Bowl won't even be the trust fund's largest outlay this year, however. Austin's racetrack was awarded $26 million for the Formula 1 Grand Prix that took place in October.