When New Orleans landed Super Bowl LIX, it wasnât just about footballâit was a calculated economic bet. That bet paid off. A newly released study from Louisiana State Universityâs E.J. Ourso College of Business pegs the total economic impact at $1.25 billion.
This isnât your average victory lap. This is a case study in civic ROIâwith spending multipliers, job creation, infrastructure ROI, and brand equity that extends far beyond four quarters of football.
Letâs break it down.
đ The $1.25 Billion Breakdown
𧎠Economic Impact Summary
Category | Amount |
|---|---|
đŚ Total Economic Output | $1.25 billion |
đˇ Jobs Supported | 9,787 |
đľ Worker Earnings | $395 million |
đ State & Local Taxes | $82.7 million |
Source: LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business, 2025
đŻ Where the Money Went: Deep Dive
1. Visitor Spending â $500.2M
Game attendees (65,719): $5,553 avg spend â $351.6M
Non-attendees (49,281): $4,246 avg spend â $148.6M
Breakdown by category (attendee average):
Category | Avg Spend |
|---|---|
Lodging | $1,439 |
Gambling | $1,292 |
Food & Drink | $905 |
Shopping | $375 |
Transportation | $153 |
Other Entertainment | $1,389 |
92% of visitors stayed 3.5 nights on average. Median income ranged from $200Kâ$500K, making this one of the highest-spending crowds in recent sports history.
2. Vendor, Media, & Sponsorship Spend â $180.3M
Direct injections from NFL, vendors, broadcasters, sponsors.
Funded logistics, infrastructure, advertising, and local hiring.
3. Sector-by-Sector Wins
đ¨ Hotels & Lodging
$91.1M from attendees, $42.5M from non-attendees
Airbnb & short-term rental revenue: $11.6M, with 62.6% YoY rate increase
đ° Casinos & Gambling
$110.5M in visitor spendâdriven by affluent out-of-state guests
đ˝ď¸ Restaurants & Bars
Combined spend: $84.6M
đď¸ Retail + NFL Experience
$35.5M in merchandise & experiential purchases
đ§ Strategy Behind the Spend
This wasnât just about the gameâit was economic choreography.
đ Infrastructure ROI
$70M+ in 550+ improvement projects (roads, lighting, tourism signage)
Upgrades funded via public-private partnerships tied to the event
đ Global Visibility
128M viewers globallyâthe most-watched Super Bowl in 10 years
Media coverage earned value: $6M
Louisiana NOW Pavilion hosted 4,000+ global business leaders
This isnât sports tourismâitâs economic diplomacy.
đ Comparative Context
2x the impact of Super Bowl XLVII (New Orleans, 2013)
2nd highest Super Bowl economic output of all time
Now tied with Miami for most Super Bowls hosted (11)
𧊠What Smart Cities Can Learn
Strategic Lever | Why It Worked |
|---|---|
đŻ Targeted Wealth Demographics | High-spend visitors = outsized economic ripple |
𧹠Infrastructure Piggyback | Long-term utility from short-term upgrades |
đ Media + Business Pairing | Local branding meets global investment window |
đ Civic Coordination | Seamless alignment across tourism, policy, business |
This is economic development through spectacle.
And Louisiana just wrote the playbook.
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