orlando, florida – Basketball fans come in droves ready to cheer on their favorite teams at the Amway Center Downtown Orlando.
Orlando City officials estimate that the NCAA’s March Madness basketball game could bring $14 million in economic benefits to the region.
Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the University of the Holy Cross, said the numbers were optimistic.
“If the Amway Center was packed with out-of-town guests and sold out for every game, we could get that many,” Matheson said. “The problem is that we are unlikely to fill the entire arena with out-of-towners.”
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At our last check, Ticketmaster still had some Upper Bowl tickets available for as low as $6.
Still, like Danny Hook, thousands of people are going to be in the game. He plans to drive his 7 hours to get here and soak up everything Orlando has to offer.
“That means we spent close to $1,000 just today,” says Houck.
Holly Leger is here to support her son, a freshman cheerleader for the Ragin Cajuns, Louisiana’s college basketball team.
“We’re going to dinner tonight to celebrate being here and have a drink,” Leger said.
On Wednesday, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer tweeted:
Matheson agrees that the event is informative, but said the estimated numbers could be problematic for taxpayers.
“I have no problem throwing out the inflated numbers, but unless I turn around, I’m going to use that inflated number to justify things like big subsidies for new NBA arenas, for example.”
News 6 reporter Treasure Roberts reached out to representatives from the Greater Orlando Sports Commission. A representative said they would share the results after the event was completed and the data compiled.
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