Super Bowl's Economic Effects

The Super Bowl has an economic effect on the US economy as well as the rest of the world.

Adam Henderson

Introduction

Research Questions:

  1. How much did the Super Bowl affect the US economy?
  2. Did the Super Bowl affect other countries around the world. If so, how?
  3. How many viewers does the Super Bowl get inside and outside the United States?

What am I researching?

I will be researching the economic effects the super bowl has on the United States and the rest of the world. I've come to learn that most people and cities aren't affected economically by the super bowl, as it is usually only the teams home cities that get affected. Merchandising, ticket sales, food purchasing, TV ratings, and commercial ratings are the main factors that affect the economy for only the relevant cities.

What are some major themes/issues that were found?

After thoroughly researching this topic, one major theme that has come up has been that the hosting cities are very much impacted by the super bowl. The super bowl brings a lot of publicity and attraction to the hosting city. Out-of-state visitors come from all over the place and spend money on food, transportation, lodging, entertainment, and touristic attractions. This can therefore bring in new money and increase the local economy substantially.

Why am I focusing on this topic in this course?

Millions and millions of people watch the super bowl from around the world every year, as it is one of the largest and most popular sporting events that happen annually. This topic relates to the western world because 169 different countries watch the super bowl. The super bowl is internationally broadcasted and has an impact on the United States as well as somewhat of an impact on countries from around the world.

Annotations

Thorne, Will. “TV Ratings: Super Bowl LIV Draws 102 Million Viewers, Up a Fraction on 2019.” Variety, 3 Feb. 2020, www.variety.com/2020/tv/news/super-bowl-liv-ratings-1203490564/.

This website shows a comparison between the TV Rating of this year’s super bowl to pervious super bowls. It provides statistics about the TV Ratings of the game, halftime show, and certain commercials as well.

This source contributed to my research because it gives me very specific statistics about TV Ratings. Instead of being generic, this source gives me TV Ratings of the football game, the halftime performance, and shows which commercials got the most TV Ratings. This source also lets me possibly extend my research into how important commercials are during the super bowl. Companies who have commercials spend a lot of money to advertise themselves because they know there are a lot of viewers.  

Map of number of fans across the world

Created by: Adam Henderson

Willis, Zack. “Do People in Other Countries Watch the Super Bowl? - Sportscasting: Pure Sports.” Sportscasting, 30 Jan. 2020,  www.sportscasting.com/do-people-in-other-countries-watch-the-super-bowl/ .

This website provides insight on how popular the super bowl around the world. One third of the super bowl viewers are from overseas and 169 different countries air the super bowl. There are 2 videos in the article that talk about how the super bowl gets international attention and also how the NFL is gaining popularity internationally.

This source contributed to my research because it showed how popular the super bowl is around the world. One of my research questions was, “Did the super bowl have an affect on other countries and how many viewers do they get?” This source answers the questions pretty well and gives good insight on the international audience through the 2 videos in the article. This website gave me statistics that I could use to help make an interactive map.

Created by: Adam Henderson

Baker, Brandon. “What's the Economic Impact of the Super Bowl on Team Cities?” PhillyVoice, 24 Jan. 2018,  www.phillyvoice.com/whats-economic-impact-super-bowl-team-cities/ .

This website talks about how the economy is impacted for the cities the two teams are from. Wherever they are from, those cities get a huge increase in publicity and exposure to news coverage. This creates a lot of interest for people to visit that city in the future and can therefore bring in new money from tourism.

This source contributed to my research because it brought up things that would increase the economy for only the cities the teams are from. This website proved that the economy isn’t affect heavily throughout the country. The only economies that are affected are the local economies from the team’s cities. Not only do the team’s cities get a boost in their economy but also the city that is hosting the super bowl. There are massive amounts of tourism and publicity involved for the city hosting every year. I can use this information to possibly create a map of which host cities economies have been affected by the super bowl the most.

Cassidy, Mike. “The Super Bowl's Economic Impact: Not So Super.” The Fiscal Times, 30 Jan. 2015,  www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/01/30/Super-Bowl-s-Economic-Impact-Not-So-Super .

This website provides valuable insight on the economy’s impact from the super bowl. This source tells us that the super bowl really has no major impact on the US economy. There are important statistics shown about food and alcohol being purchased because those are typically usual things people buy for super bowl parties.

This source contributed to my research because it answers my main question of, “How does the super bowl affect the US economy.” The statistics prove that all the buying of food and alcohol has little to no impact for the economy as a whole. The super bowl heavily affects certain companies because of commercials as well as the team’s cities but in the overall grand scheme of things, the super bowl has hardly any impact on the entire US economy.     

Sraders, Anne. “4 Super Bowl Ads That Impacted Stock Prices in 2019.” TheStreet, 5 Feb. 2019,  www.thestreet.com/lifestyle/sports/super-bowl-ads-stock-prices-14854700 .

This website provides information regarding which companies benefited from the super bowl the most. Pepsi, Coca Cola, Bud Light, and Microsoft were the 4 companies that gained the most in stocks after the super bowl due to their popular advertisements during the game. Radio Shack in 2014 and Nisan in 2015 were other companies that increased their economy exponentially due to the Super Bowl.

This source contributed to my research because it proved that companies who make popular commercials during the super bowl can make millions of dollars. TV ratings skyrocket through the roof as millions watch the super bowl, so some companies look at that and take advantage. Even though it’s extremely expensive for companies to put out their commercials, the smart companies would advertise themselves during the super bowl because that’s how they get their name out to the public.    

Russell, Jason. “The Bad Economics of Hosting the Super Bowl.” Washington Examiner, 28 Jan. 2015,  www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-bad-economics-of-hosting-the-super-bowl .

This website shows the opposing view of the super bowls impact on the economy. Therefore, the article talks about how the hosting cities economy can decrease due to the super bowl. Michael Leeds, a professor at Temple University, talks how the taxpayer costs of hosting the super bowl can cause a net negative on the local economy. “Once you cover all the expenses that the city goes to and net out what the businesses would have done anyway, that the city winds up being worse off” (Leeds).

This source contributed to my research because it brought upon an opposing view to my consensus. Throughout all this research I’ve done, this is the first article to read that has said the hosting cities economy can decrease. This gave me a good look at the other view on the impact of the economy and also gave me the opportunity to increase my research in order to find out why the professor makes these inquiries. 

Kanell, Michael E. “Super Bowl Economic Bonanza? Depends Who's Talking.” AJC, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1 Feb. 2019,  www.ajc.com/business/super-bowl-economic-bonanza-depends-who-talking/jXaVJa2ekoIFstBHJ27HLO/ .

This website provides valuable information regarding how the economic benefits from the super bowl are a fraction of what they promise. J.C. Bradbury, an economist from Kennesaw State University, said “It’s a 10 percent rule. The actual impact is about 10 percent of what they project” (Bradbury). This is another website that proved that the economy is usually increased but at a very small number.

This source contributed to my research because it gave me more information on the small economic impact the super bowl has on the US economy and gave me closure on this whole topic. After researching through many different websites, I’ve come to the conclusion that the super bowl does have a positive but small impact on the economy.  

Conclusion

What have I learned?

Through my research, I've come to learn that the super bowl as international attention and that people from all around the world are fans of the NFL. I've also learned that US economy isn't impacted heavily as a whole, but wherever the host city is, their local economies increase exponentially. The economies of International countries aren't impacted from the super bowl because all the money from ticket sales, food, beverages, entertainment, and tourism go to the local economies of the host city.

How does this relate to class?

The economic growth within the United States during the super bowl directly relates to the US being one of the richest countries in the world. In chapter 3, western economics are brought up. The United States had roughly $52,500 of GDP per capita making it the fifth largest in the world. The publicity and tourism involved relates to the world because people travel internationally just to watch the super bowl in person.

Claim

The geography of the western world consists of countries that have a well developed government, are economically stable, and innovative technology. The super bowl is one aspect that proves America is one of the top economic powers of the world and that they are a part of what people call the "western world".

Citations

Introduction

Annotations

The map was created by Adam Henderson

The Infographic was created by Adam Henderson