HOUSTON (AP) – In May 2013, when Houston was awarded the right to host this year’s Super Bowl, the city’s economy was booming as many of the oil and gas companies that call Houston home and have earned it the nickname “the energy capital of the world” were riding high on a wave of oil selling at more than $100 a barrel.
But that wave soon collapsed. Oil plummeted – bottoming out at around $26 a barrel – energy firms declared bankruptcy and more than 80,000 local workers lost their oil-related jobs over the last two years. While this wasn’t as bad as the infamous oil bust of the 1980s and the city’s economy is now more diversified, it still hit Houston hard. Office space and newly built apartments stood empty, car sales fell and local tax revenues dropped.
Economists say the worst seems to be over and the Super Bowl will be a welcomed addition to the ongoing recovery as the game is expected to provide up to a $350 million economic impact as well as a psychological boost as local leaders and residents get a chance to show off Houston and highlight that the city is no longer only about oil and traffic, with a much more diverse economy and population.
“Houston is demonstrating that we are so much more than the current price of oil,” said Jeff Shellebarger, the locally-based president of Chevron North America Exploration and Production Co.
Stephen Klineberg, a sociology professor at Rice University in Houston, said the Super Bowl spotlight will also help show people how Houston has become the most ethnically diverse major city in the U.S. About one in four residents are foreign-born and minorities make up more than 70 percent of the population, according to Census figures.