The bigger the event, the bigger the need for added security. And the bigger the paycheck for police officers working overtime.

Overtime pay works in two ways. Officers are paid time-and-a-half for the extra hours their departments need them to provide extra security for special occasions like mega-events. They also receive the same time-and-a-half pay when they're needed to appear in the courtroom in cases associated with these events.

The extra pay adds up quickly. Of the $3.1 million that Glendale, Arizona, paid in game-related expenses for hosting the 2008 Super Bowl, more than $2 million went to the police. The 2009 Super Bowl required the Tampa Police Department to coordinate 25 regional and national agencies in a coordinated security effort. The city paid $1 million in game-day expenses for security, electricity, and clean-up, plus an additional $333,000 for police overtime and extra duty.

The 2007 NBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas resulted in 403 arrests in game-related activity, including the infamous incident involving NFL player Adam “Pacman” Jones that led to the shooting of three people outside a Vegas strip club. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department designed a terrorism prevention and response center specifically for the All-Star Game. The center included hourly reports, private-sector partner reports for hotel security, and officer safety bulletins.

Even with all of the arrests and several violent crimes related to the event, Las Vegas law authorities view the weekend a success from a police standpoint. "The presence of police officers were very instrumental, I believe, in keeping this event as safe as it was," Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie told reporters.

Gillespie, who estimated police overtime costs to be roughly $600,000, told the Las Vegas media that he would welcome back the NBA event.

Continue reading this story, below, or click on a category to see who wins and who loses when the big game comes to town.