The city of San Francisco is set to host the 2013 America's Cup. Although the hosting of the prestigious event carries with it a definite cachet, as well as enticement for additional tourism, the deal does also contain an element of finincial risk.
Chris Roberts of NBC Bay Area reports that the city could stand to lose as much as $22 million on the deal if everything does not go as well as hoped. He notes that attendance was down quite a bit in San Diego in 2011, so the city can not necessarily expect large crowds as a given.
Another aspect of the deal that raises some eyebrows is that America's Cup race officials are already past due on paying the city $12 million of the $32 million that San Francisco is supposed to receive.
Roberts offers a more detailed breakdown of the financial details, but it appears that the city will need everything to go exactly as hoped in order to prevent losing some money on the enterprise.