The Dollar Bills of the Super Bowl

The Dollar Bills of the Super Bowl

How Much Money is Behind the Biggest Event in America's Most Watched Sport Called Football?

 As the Super Bowl just recently passed by us with the Eagles successfully dethroning Tom Brady and Co, it is interesting to think about how much this annual occasion cost.

While many of the figures are not out about Super Bowl LII yet, there is a plethora of history to look at.

Super Bowl day Sunday is arguably on it’s way of becoming an American holiday. When putting Super Bowl viewership into perspective, if you combined the numbers that Donald Trump's inauguration (30.6M), the 89th Academy Awards (32.9M), and the 59th Annual Grammy Awards (26.1M) all received, you would still be 21.7 million viewers shy of Super Bowl LI.

As a sport as a whole, only 37 of the top 50 TV broadcasts in 2017 were football related with the top three being championship or playoff games. So what do these large numbers mean? Money.

Rushing into Consumer and Business Spending

When the regular American thinks of the super bowl, he thinks of the best NFC and AFC teams facing off in the football battle of the year. However, when businesses think of the super bowl, they think of money., money, and money! To many Americans, the Super Bowl is just as important as Black Friday, Halloween, and New Years is. "Nowhere else will you get a live audience — reaching roughly one-third of the U.S. population — that is eagerly anticipating both the game and the ads." Anything from beverage companies to car dealers use this time to advertise. While some ads focus on the products of the companies themselves such as a Jeep advertising its new Wrangler, others focus on their partnerships with organizations like Toyota with the 2018 Paralympics. The goal of the ads is to increase spending throughout the value chain. Not surprisingly, this football-filled Sunday has no trouble accomplishing this.

For those tuning into the big game from home, Super Bowl ads are paramount. This past Super Bowl labelled a $5.05 million dollar cost for each 30 second commercial. Only seven years prior, the price for a 30 second clip was only 2.98 million, a 69% increase. With the number of viewers only increasing roughly 20%, the price of the advertisements shows the heightened demand in the constant supply. In preparation of the watch parties, about $14.1 billion dollars on Super Bowl Sunday, beating Halloween by over 5 billion dollars in revenue. Clearly, team decor and beer have more value than candy and costumes- beer sales alone actually reached $600 million dollars. But the costs and revenues don't just end in the home, as thousands of fans from around the country gather in the stadium to celebrate their favorite sport.

Tackling the Costs to Attend the Big “SB”

For many, watching the Super Bowl through the TV is just not enough. Many fans want to attend the games to experience the atmosphere of a championship game. Fans chant, music blasts, wallets cringe. For many, attending the Super Bowl is more expensive than their own honeymoon. About 8-13 times more expensive (an assumption from Honeymoon.com study showing a $5000 price tag). Purchasing tickets to the big game can cost a minimum of $3,550 and a maximum of $66,650 on StubHub.

The location of the seat is the major factor that influences the price, however, time of purchase does also make a difference. In 2015, the price of reselling at ticket listed at around $6,000 about a week before the game but in just two days the price shot up to $10,500. The trend of prices increasing drastically is not uncommon for events of this size. Of the 1 million attendees expected to flock into the Twin Cities, many will not find free accommodation. For those coming in for just a weekender can expect to spend about $6,000. Exploring the city and other such activities will only add on top of the fee to stay in a hotel and enjoy the rest of the Super Bowl amenities. On the contrary, those interested in enjoying all that the NFL has to offer can look to spend over $30,000, tickets and other accommodations included. As much as it costs the individual to enjoy the Super Bowl trip, the costs to run the whole event far surpass these figures.

Passing Around Operation Costs

Each year, cities bid to earn the spot of hosting the next Super Bowl. Because the teams playing have no effect on the location of the game, there is even more competition to earn the title of host city. For SB 52, Minneapolis earned the position and prepared itself for the influx of visitors. Public safety accounted for over 6 million dollars in public safety and another 1.1 million dollar on public transport. Although the cost of freeing up hotels and over 35,000 parking spaces was a requirement, an expected 203 million dollars will generate over the weekend for the Twin Cities. Another cost that many consumers do not think about is the cost of the halftime performers. Surprisingly, it is $0. The reasoning behind this figure is that the NFL only pays for operation and performance costs because the position of being the halftime performer is enough marketing revenue for years.

Going the 100 Yards

The Super Bowl is the time to rejoice with friends and family. It is the time to enjoy America’s favorite sport. Behind all of the advertisements, nachos, and tackles, there lies a multi-million dollar industry. Businesses know what the consumer wants and the consumer loves it. Because the Super Bowl is the pinnacle of the annual football season, there is no reason not spend a little bit of money. The next time you are on the border of buying that flashy $80 jersey, just remember, you account for only 0.0000008% of the revenue for that week. So why the hell not.