Waste of the Day: NYC Spending $20 Million to Boost World Cup Spending

Topline: New York City is one of the world’s premier tourist destinations, and visitors attending the soccer World Cup next year will likely have no trouble finding ways to keep themselves occupied.

NYC spends millions on World Cup advertising

Just in case, the city is spending $20 million on advertising and events to remind visitors that New York is filled with restaurants and hotels they can spend money at. Otherwise, how would anyone know?

Key facts: The city hopes that spending on advertising will turn a profit in the end. Public events will help the city secure sponsors for the tournament, officials told Crain’s New York.

Still, it’s fair to wonder whether those sponsorships would happen anyway. The World Cup is the world’s most watched sporting event, and most corporations are likely already aware that it’s coming to North America.

The advertisements will also drive customers toward local businesses, with more than $2 billion in economic activity expected for the tristate area. But again, tourists know they need places to eat and sleep, even without the city spending taxpayer dollars on advertising.

The spending will take up more than half of the $38.7 million of funding for the city’s Economic Development Corporation in 2026.

New York will not actually be hosting the World Cup, but eight matches will be played nearby in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The two states estimate 14,000 jobs will be created, Crain’s reported.

The expense is still lower than the $81 million spent on promoting the 2014 Super Bowl, but that money came from various agencies in New York and New Jersey.

Shortchanging the locals

Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Critical quote: “We’re seeing more city dollars … for these types of projects in general, not just the World Cup,” Sean Campion of the watchdog group Citizens Budget Commission told Crain’s. “[The city] has less money left over to do its core economic development functions on its own, whatever you think of the effectiveness.”

Summary: Tourists need to know what’s happening in New York, but locals should also be able to afford all that the city offers. That’s less likely when the government keeps spending seemingly endless amounts of taxpayer money. 

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RCI and made available via RealClearWire.