Houston Super Bowl host committee announces economic impact of Super Bowl LI

HOUSTON – The Houston Super Bowl Host Committee announced Thursday the economic impact Super Bowl LI had on the city of Houston.

The committee revealed study findings and discussed the ongoing effect of the Super Bowl on Houston's convention industry.

HSBHC said the big game brought in an incremental $347 million of new spending to Greater Houston, which originates from the local travel spending of 150,000 visitors.

The Super Bowl also gave Houston a platform to communicate to the world that Houston is the most diverse, progressive and hospitable city in the United States, according to a release from the host committee.

[WATCH: Economical effect of Super Bowl LI on Houston]

"The draw of Houston as a diverse, fun and affordable destination attracted more visitors than anticipated during Super Bowl LI," said Ric Campo, Board Chairman of HSBHC. "It was exhilarating to see such a large number of fans and tourists take advantage of all that our great city has to offer."

Additional Super Bowl LI highlights include:

  • $4 million in grants were given by Touchdown Houston to 78 local non-profits
  • 10,000 volunteers served as ambassadors for the City of Houston creating memorable experiences for visitors and lifelong memories for themselves
  • Super Bowl LIVE and NFL Experience reached an all-time record of 1.3 million attendees
  • METRORail reached a single-day record of 109,500 riders on Feb. 4
  • More than 400 MBWE participated in NFL's Business Connect Program
  • Houston welcomed 150,000 out-of-town visitors for Super Bowl LI
  • Super Bowl LI was the most-watched Super Bowl ever with 172,000,000 total viewers within 70 percent of homes across the United States
  • Super Bowl LI's halftime with Lady Gaga was the most-watched musical event of all time with 118 million broadcast views and 80 million online views
  • Super Bowl LI garnered 5.6 billion Twitter impressions worldwide

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