Super Bowl spending comes in slightly lower than projected

Confetti fills the air after the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. ( Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle ) Confetti fills the air after the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. ( Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle Photo: Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 113 Caption Close Super Bowl spending comes in slightly lower than projected 1 / 113 Back to Gallery

The receipts are in, and February's Super Bowl LI appears to have been a substantial boon for Houston — albeit with slightly less spending than expected.

Gross spending during the nine days of Super Bowl programming, minus the amount of usual tourism displaced by the event, came to $338 million, according to a consultant retained by the Host Committee. That's a bit off the $372 million originally projected by the same firm, Pennsylvania-based Rockport Analytics.

The discrepancy occurred because the costs of goods and services were lower than expected, even though the number of out-of-town visitors was higher than anticipated, at 150,000, according to Rockport Analytics. In particular, visitors spent about half of what was expected on rental cars because of the availability of car-sharing service Uber and special Metro routes.

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Host Committee Chairman Ric Campo, the CEO of apartment developer Camden Property Trust, said that should still be counted as a win for Houston, since it allowed more people to come to the party.

"One of the things that the Host Committee really worked hard on was affordability," Campo said. "We didn't want you to have to go to Discovery Green and spend $100 to feed your family."

The total impact includes $228 million spent on wages and $39 million spent on state and local taxes. Although that number was about $6 million lower than projected, it was more than enough to compensate for the $25.4 million the Host Committee expects to receive from the state's Major Events Reimbursement Fund, with $15 million in proceeds.

The city spent $5.5 million on costs such as security and transportation, and has been fully reimbursed by the Host Committee, Super Bowl officials said.

Local visitation was also higher than forecast, which officials attributed to the magnitude of free events downtown that preceded the game itself. The Super Bowl Live event, originally projected to cost $2 million, ended up costing $14 million as more sponsors decided to pony up for branded exhibits.

Related: The fuzzy math of Super Bowl projections

More donations also allowed the Host Committee to bring in scores of bands, including ZZ Top, who doesn't come cheap.

In addition to the financial impact, officials played up the the game's halo effect for the city's image, and the benefit of catching the interest of potential customers. Houston First President Mike Waterman said several of the 16 convention organizers he brought down to see the event have committed to bringing conventions to the city.

"We weekly get customers coming to Houston and saying they saw us shine during the Super Bowl, and now they're interested in booking a meeting here," Waterman said.

And Waterman is already looking forward to the next one: Houston First is preparing its bid for the 2024 game.

Corrected to clarify the timing of the state's reimbursement of Host Committee expenses.