Before awarding the 2018 Super Bowl to Minneapolis, the National Football League had a very extensive and pricey list of requests for the host city.
The NFL had a 153-page document outlining what they required from the host city. Some of these requests include free police escorts for team owners, 35,000 free sparking spaces, presidential suites at no cost in high-end hotels, free billboards across the Twin Cities, and guarantees to receive all revenue from the games tickets sales, Minnesota Star-Tribune reports
It is not known how many of these requirements the Minneapolis host committee actually agreed to, but in a letter to the Star tribune the host committee said that they guaranteed more than 100,000 visitors, resulting in millions of dollars in economic activity.
There has been some backlash to the NFL’s dealings.
Former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson told the Star Tribune, “This is wrong. This is a huge public event. It should be transparent. We should know how the NFL operates.”
He also reminded everyone that the Super Bowl would be in a new stadium, built with a public financing.
Host committees and the NFL promise as much as $600 million in economic benefits when the Super Bowl comes to town, Sb Nation reports
The actual number may be way less then expected though after costs to the host city.