Guess this should be counted as a victory -- Indianapolis "lost less that expected" on the Super Bowl:
Final expenses released Monday by the city's sports and convention board show it's on the hook for $350,000 after reimbursements by the National Football League and its associates. The amount is less, though, than the $810,000 loss the board expected to incur.
The Capital Improvement Board operates Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center, host of the NFL Experience fan event. It racked up slightly more than $3 million in expenses to put on the Feb. 5 Super Bowl and related activities.
Of course, it can be argued that the cost-loss estimate is an artificial way to analyze the event. The expenses are for city services, after all, which have to provided daily at certain levels and in extra amounts for all kinds of special events. You wouldn't say the fire department loses money, for example, because firefighters have to be paid and don't bring in any money by fighting fires. Whether it was worth the city's extra effort depends on what long-term benefits are derived from hosting the event. The city thinks they will be considerable. Some have doubts.
