ANDERSON, Ind. —
Many businesses and organizations in Anderson are still trying to calculate the financial numbers showing how the Super Bowl affected them.
But even without all the hard figures available, they agree that it was a positive economic impact on the city.
Thirteen corporate and private jets flew in and out of the Anderson Municipal Airport last weekend bringing in Super Bowl fans, said John Coon, the airport manager. Most of the incoming flights arrived and departed on Sunday.
Anderson had the nearest airport to Indianapolis that fell outside of the temporary flight-restriction zone that prohibited planes from flying into airports closer to downtown on game day, Coon said.
That qualification was popular among people who didn’t want to spend any nights and just wanted to be in town for the game.
The airport sold almost 3,000 gallons of fuel, bringing in almost $15,000 to the airport, Coon said. An additional $1,400 in income was made by offering other services, such as hangar rentals and use of auxiliary power units.
The planes carried an average of five passengers, and with their crews, a total of close to 100 people came through the Anderson airport, Coon said.
The majority of planes flew in from New Jersey, and about 90 percent of guests wore New York Giants gear, he noted. The Super Bowl pitted the Giants against the New England Patriots.
The airport had a hospitality room available for visitors and crew members wanting to get a beverage, snacks or a bit of relaxation. Including volunteers, who watched the Super Bowl game in there, close to 150 people stopped in there throughout the day.
“I think it went very well,” Coon said. “We were able to provide an atmosphere that was enjoyable by all the guests, volunteers and workers.”
At Hoosier Park Racing & Casino, which was designated an official Super Celebration Site, many local and out-of-town guests participated in Super Bowl activities and watched the big game on the venue’s 200 high-definition televisions, said spokesman Grant Scharton.
Hoosier Park had a football-themed party on Sunday with a live concert, hot dogs and decor in the terrace level. Once the concert was over, many people either went down to the casino, one of the restaurants or left the venue. The Homestretch Steakhouse and Homestretch Clubhouse, which can seat up to about 420 total, was filled to capacity for dinner and the game, he said.
Scharton said that having the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, so close to Anderson, was good for business. But the numbers haven’t been crunched yet to determine how many people came through the facility or how financially beneficial that was.
“The weekend’s results surpassed our expectations in terms of the business level,” Scharton said. “Overall it was a great weekend by all measures.
“We issued a lot of new Centaur (membership) cards. There were lots of out-of-state license plates in the parking lots. And many of our regular customers came out.”
The Anderson/Madison County Visitors & Convention Bureau has been trying to track the impact that the Super Bowl had on the city but hasn’t had much success getting solid figures, said Ralph Day, the executive director.
“We did check with hotels yesterday (Monday) and in terms of properties that are here at the interstate, with 1,000 rooms represented, they were for the most part full,” he said.
The hotels do not share their room rates with the bureau, so it’s hard to determine how much money visitors spent on room and board.
“Some started at a higher rate then rolled back to a lower rate when guests weren’t coming in,” Day said.
The bureau called several restaurants, and because most of them around the interstate are corporate-owned, employees refused to provide information on their revenue and success, Day said.
A couple restaurants said that they got more business this Super Bowl weekend compared to last year’s weekend. But that isn’t a fair comparison because the winter weather was terrible a year ago and probably kept people at home, Day said.
Although solid numbers aren’t available yet, Day believes the Super Bowl had a positive economic impact in may ways — with visitors spending money at hotels, restaurants, and gas stations. And let’s not forget the locals, he said, who stocked up on plenty of food, drinks and supplies for parties.
Contact Melanie Hayes: 648-4250, melanie.hayes@heraldbulletin.com
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These large private jets were part of several more that were parked at Anderson Municipal Airport on Sunday for the Super Bowl. John P. Cleary
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