ORLANDO, Fla. – Basketball fans are coming out in droves ready to cheer on their favorite teams at the Amway Center Downtown Orlando.
Orlando city officials predict NCAA’s March Madness basketball games could bring in $14 million of economic impact for the region.
Victor Matheson, economics professor at The College of The Holy Cross, said that figure is optimistic.
“If the Amway Center was full of out-of-town guests and completely full for all the games, you may be able to get a number that high,” Matheson said. “The problem is that you’re unlikely to fill the entire arena with people from out of town.”
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At last check, Ticketmaster had several upper bowl tickets still available for as low as $6.
Still, thousands of people are slated to be at the games, like Danny Houck. He drove seven hours to get here and plans to soak up all Orlando has to offer.
“I mean today we spent close to 1,000 just today,” Houck said.
Holly Leger is here to support her son, a freshman cheerleader for the Ragin Cajuns, a collegiate basketball team from Louisiana.
“We’re going to dinner tonight and (going to) celebrate being here, have some drinks,” Leger said.
On Wednesday, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer tweeted, “This is why we invested in the Amway center and our community venues: to bring great events like March Madness for residents to enjoy and help small businesses.”
Matheson agrees the event is profitable but said estimated figures could be problematic for the taxpayers.
“It’s okay to throw out inflated numbers as long as you don’t turn around and use those inflated numbers to try to justify something like a big subsidy, for example, for a new NBA arena.”
News 6 reporter Treasure Roberts reached out to an official with the Greater Orlando Sports Commission. The representative said they will share the outcome after the event is completed and the data is compiled.
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