San Diego tourism officials are touting a new study that finds professional football games have little financial impact on local hotel occupancy rates. The hotel industry study measured how much football games impacted hotels in all 32 NFL cities. The economic footprint in San Diego is negligible.
"No impact. They showed a 1 percent increase. One percent between having a home game in that community and not having a home game. There are certain home games that are better depending on the team. Many home games actually showed that it was a negative impact," said Joe Terzi, president of the San Diego Tourism Authority.
Some cities like New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Seattle did well, generating millions as their teams performed well.
The football game impact is just one reason local tourism officials say Measure C is a bad idea. They say the measure on this November's ballot raises the hotel room tax too much and the city won't see a return for years.
"If it were to pass and they move forward, they're talking about (the year) 2022, 2024 so that is not inevitable and it's not a couple of years from now. It's a significant amount of time to get where they have proposed to get," Terzi said.
Chargers spokesman Fred Maas found fault with the study, which he said failed to include revenue generated by the facilities meeting spaces. Convention business will create a significant economic boost and spur people to stay in local hotels, Maas said.