The Super Bowl is one of the largest sporting events in the world, watched by millions of people around the globe. The FIFA World Cup is the largest of them all, but that event does span over several weeks, whereas the Super Bowl happens on a single day. Still, events such as the English Premier League’s matchup between Liverpool FC vs Manchester United does outperform it in viewer numbers as well.
Despite that though, the Super Bowl still has an incredible power to generate money like none of those other events do. That’s because American sports are riddled with advertisements. You can’t go five minutes without being told that a game is sponsored by Geiko, or that Powerade is the number one refreshment that is used by professional athletes.
The organizers have so much power putting on the Super Bowl, that advertisers can pay millions of dollars just for a short 30-second advert to pop up at half time. In fact, in 2018, the Super Bowl set a record of $5.24 million for a 30-second advert, that’s $175,000 a second if we’ve done our math correctly.
That’s insane to think at halftime alone, the Super Bowl makes enough money to cover the costs of hosting the event. They could even afford to give everyone in the stadium a free seat to watch the game and probably buy them a few beers or hot dogs for the kids as well, and still come out making a profit.
But it isn’t all about the big corporations, local economies can benefit from it being hosted too. Super Bowl LVII, which will be the 57th hosted and the 53rd of the modern-era NFL, will be hosted in Arizona, at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale. So what can the local communities of Arizona expect to see when the event arrives on February 12th, 2023.
Make mine a cold one
One of the biggest expenses for anyone when it comes to the Super Bowl is beer, and other alcoholic beverages too. At Super Bowl 52 in 2017, people spent $1.3 billion dollars on the amber nectar alone. That includes people buying drinks in the stadiums, buying crates of the stuff from supermarkets and local stores to have Super Bowl parties at home, and their local bars and restaurants that show the game.
No area makes more money than the local area that hosts the Super Bowl though. Obviously, you have the fans in the stadium, but then so many more camp up outside in their RVs even if they don’t have tickets. Just to soak up the atmosphere, and in case they can grab a ticket last minute. That means local stores tend to see a massive boost in sales of beer and other drinks, and when they sell out, or after the game and people are celebrating, people begin to hit the bars.
With all the extra visitors, and all the money being spent, it creates some short-term jobs just for the occasion. Giving people who are out of work a chance to earn some money, or for people who aren’t so well off to earn extra cash on top of their current jobs. This then gets reinvested in the local economy when they go about doing their regular shops, or purchasing whatever luxuries they’re saving up for.
A bettor future
Another industry that does extremely well when the Super Bowl comes around is the betting industry, both local sportsbooks and online betting sites. Many people may have already placed their NFL picks at the beginning of the season, but they tend to bet more on the big day. Mainly because the bets they may have placed early on may not come to fruition, considering no one knows who is going to make the Super Bowl, and only two teams will go all the way to the big event.
Therefore any location that hosts the Super Bowl, will see local sportsbooks making an absolute fortune come the big day. Some sportsbooks give employees bonuses, which they then go and spend in their local communities. And with the extra profits, they also reinvest in their stores and other areas, which give areas run down a resurgence and a new lease of life.
There is a downside
It’s not all sunshines and rainbows when the Super Bowl comes to town though. There are negative externalities to hosting such a big event. And it goes hand-in-hand with the first big beneficiary, beer. That’s because a record number of people call in sick to work the day after the Super Bowl. Now, they’re not really sick, well, some aren’t. They have hangovers.
But that can have a big impact on many local businesses that rely on these people to operate. If not enough turn up, businesses can’t open and they lose money. If they do, and service is poor due to being understaffed, mistakes get made, and purchases may have to be comped, or negative reviews get left on Yelp and the businesses suffer again. So whilst a lot of good can come from the Super Bowl being hosted in a local area, it can also have a negative impact too.
