Republican Convention Tourism cost and benefits

So what are the costs and benefits for a city to host a presidential convention?  Beats me, so I looked up some info on the WWW.

According to the Republican's Cleveland 2016 Host Committee, "While it’s tough to project exactly what this number will be for the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, we do know that the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa had an economic impact of more than $200 million in direct spending."

On the other hand, how much does it cost?  The Fiscal Times website finds "The GOP’s Cleveland Host Committee aimed to raise $64 million to fund the event. Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, and Ohio have collectively contributed $15 million to that total. But, as of last Thursday, the GOP was millions short of their goal after losing $8.1 million from corporations and individuals who revoked their pledges. Among the biggest former donors are David Koch ($1 million), Coca-Cola ($1 million), FedEx ($500,000), Pepsi ($500,000), United Health ($500,000), Apple ($250,000), Visa ($100,000) and BP ($50,000)."

As the event winds down, it is important to note that "As of July 1, 10,867 people were registered to protest with permits to march, rally and demonstrate. But many protestors haven’t bothered to apply for permits. Adding to the security concern is Ohio’s open-carry law, which allows people to walk around with loaded handguns and long guns. Gov. Kasich rejected the Cleveland police’s request that he suspend open-carry for the week, ostensibly because he didn’t have the unilateral authority to waive the law. Members of the New Black Panther Party have announced their intentions to protest in Cleveland with weapons.(my emphasis from The Fiscal Times report).

But rest assured that Cleveland is ready to deal with trouble makers by extending hours of courts to process people.