November 9, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — "DePauw University professor of economics Humberto Barreto says there are a number of complicated things that go into figuring out the exact amount of dollars that a Super Bowl brings in," noted Larry Hawley in a report that aired today on Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN-TV. The piece took a look at the economic impact the upcoming Super Bowl will bring to Indy, the 2012 host city.
According to Dr. Barreto, when it comes to applying a dollar amount to a big event's impact on a city, "There are two kinds of studies. There's a kind of simple version where you just kinda figure out on average how much a visitor spends and then just extrapolate that and just multiply that times how many people show up. Then there are these complicated, 
more sophisticated econometric analysis where you run regressions and try to find different variables, and I think the hard part is knowing when to cut off the analysis."
He adds, "I think the Super Bowl is such a mega event that its so great that Indianapolis has the Super Bowl and gives us the chance to show Lucas Oil [Stadium] and show downtown and increase awareness of the facilities that Indianapolis has and the quality of life that's available here."
See the piece at the television station's website. Also available is additional video from the professor's interview.
Bert Barreto, Elizabeth P. Allen Distinguished University Professor and professor of economics and management at DePauw, contributed a book review to the September 2011 edition of Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries.