Ads in New York’s Times Square, where Broadway has been renamed Super Bowl Boulevard for the game. Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Light posts all over New York City already heralded the forthcoming Super Bowl earlier this month when U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney held a press conference with tourism and NFL officials at a sports bar in midtown Manhattan to announce that part of Broadway, perhaps the most famous street in the United States, would be renamed Super Bowl Boulevard for the four days preceding the game.

More officially, the new temporary name is Super Bowl Boulevard Engineered by GMC.

The 10-block stretch is now decked out with a concert stage, a Vince Lombardi Trophy display case and an eight-lane toboggan run (also sponsored by GMC). It’s all in an effort to boost the tourism ripple effect that many expect the Super Bowl to create.

“It’s going to be a huge economic boon,” Maloney said. “Thanks to the Super Bowl, we’re seeing more hotel rooms booked and restaurant tables reserved and even more excitement than usual for this time of year.”

To the people involved in bringing Super Bowl XLVIII to New Jersey this year, the economic impact couldn’t be more clear: They’ve estimated that 80,000 people will arrive for the game and 10,000 temporary jobs will be created. The NFL host committee has said the Super Bowl will generate $500 million to $600 million for the region.

But to others who aren’t directly responsible for convincing the region to host the game, the economic picture looks less rosy. Some local business owners say the flood of people and dollars promised by local politicians has failed to materialize, and many economists seem to agree. They say that, at best, the Super Bowl will provide a small or moderate economic boost to the economy and, at worst, it might even be a drain.

Managers at Best Western Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, N.J., are downright disappointed.

“We were under the expectation that we’d be packed,” said Winston Reyes, the front-desk manager. “But reservations are slow.”

He blamed the media frenzy for the high vacancy rate. With newspapers across the country reporting that tens of thousands of people with dollars to burn were making their way to the metropolitan area, Reyes’ hotel changed prices accordingly. But those people didn’t materialize, and the price increases dissuaded non–Super Bowl visitors, he said.

Plus, Reyes said, New Jersey didn’t do a very good job of advertising.

“We didn’t see a great promotion from the state,” he said. “As of right now, the Super Bowl is in New Jersey, and everybody thinks it’s in New York.”

According to economists, this kind of story is pretty typical for businesses in Super Bowl cities: Politicians and sports franchises promise big money, it rarely materializes, and the process repeats itself the following year.

But even as more evidence comes out that the Super Bowl is a lackluster economic booster, economists say a sporting event can look like the best — or at least the most politically palatable — option for an area looking for a quick cash infusion.

“Cities have a bit of a tough time selling the public on public financing, but the NFL makes a convincing argument,” said Robert Baade, an economics professor at Lake Forest College in Illinois who has studied the Super Bowl’s economic impact. “They (NFL officials) want people to think of it not as an an expenditure but as an investment.”

But, according to Baade and several other economists, the NFL host committee’s math is fuzzy.