The inaugural College Football Playoff Championship is 179 days away - and some in Dallas-Fort Worth believe they are in for a $300 million payday.
A report for AT&T Stadium's Stadium Events Organizing Committee, obtained by the Dallas Morning News, expects $308.6 million in total spending and $16.1 million in tax revenue for the Jan. 12 title game. The report projects 91,781 ticketed spectators and 12,500 credentialed attendees, with another 18,000 visiting the Metroplex but not attending the game.
These types of reports are all over the place. Atlanta expected a $70 million economic impact for the 2013 Final Four, while the 2014 Final Four - held in the same stadium as January's football championship - was expected to generate $200 million more than that. The Super Bowl XLIX host committee expects a $600 million benefit for the Arizona economy this February, up 20 percent from a reported $500 million windfall for Super Bowl XLII in 2008.
These reports are often unreliable, and always optimistic.
In this case, AT&T Stadium's report is based on a projected number of more than 61,000 out-of-town visitors for the CFP championship. Considering that the two fan bases entering the championship game will have just traveled to the Rose and Sugar bowls, respectively, many working people will have exhausted their allowance of vacation days from the Christmas-New Year's holiday season, and the championship game is on a Monday, 61,000 feels like a lofty number.