PHILADELPHIA -- Who pays for all of this?
It’s no secret conventions are very expensive ordeals, after all, the Wells Fargo Center isn’t a small banquet hall. It's a huge arena that has to be rented for more than just a few nights.
And that 60-foot three-tier stage costs $1.2 million -- not including all the light displays. The luxury booths for TV networks? Those rent for between $30,000-$120,000.
Together the DNC and RNC will end up spending more than $110 million putting on the shows, which comes from deep-pocketed donors and corporations looking for free publicity.
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Now comes your money.
Because this is a national security event, Congress chipped in another $110 million for security: fences, barricades, overtime for police officers and more.
But the bill keeps growing.
Taxpayers donated another $40 million in tax returns when they checked the $3 box designated for these political conventions.
Of courses there is a heavy money trail flowing into local businesses, private vendors, food trucks, taxis, Ubers and Lyfts, hotels, catering companies and the list keeps going.
But given the traffic tie-ups, the congestion, the confusion, the question for Philadelphia and Cleveland is: Is it really worth it?
Just ask Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, whose city hosted the RNC Convention four years ago.
“It cost us about two to three million dollars---
Worth hundreds of millions,” Buckhorn said.
And other cities must think it's worth it too given the dozens of cities begging for a chance to host the greatest political show on earth.