Sports writer Sam Clayton discusses the gambling and the costs involved in the Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs (38) defeated the Philadelphia Eagles (35) in a thriller to take home the Super Bowl LVII Lombardi Trophy on February 12, 2023.
Over 113 million people took time out of their Sunday night to tune into what has become the single largest entertainment event in the United States. To the average viewer this may seem like any other football game but to the NFL and many other large corporations this is their bread winner.
During the Super Bowl there is an average of 50 minutes of commercial time from the start of the game to the end. As of 2023, companies pay $6-7 million per 30 second time slot. Because of the large amount of views during this game, companies have often chosen this night to start their large ad campaigns for the coming year.
Since the Super Bowl is the largest sporting event in the country it is no surprise that ticket prices have become very expensive. Ticket prices for the Super Bowl are at an all time high. The starting ticket price for an upper deck, “nosebleed” seat was going for $3,500 which will also include anywhere from $500-1,000 of fees. Luxury suites in the lower bowl were going upwards of $1.5 million per suite. People have often asked the question of why when it comes to the cost of a single ticket but historically fans are willing to pay the premium price to attend this event.
Sports gambling has recently taken hold of the sports world significantly and there is no other day more gambled on than Super Bowl Sunday. A record setting $16 billion of legal bets will be placed leading up to the kickoff of Super Bowl LVII. There were over 100 million single transactions placed which is a 25% increase compared to last year’s game. The Super Bowl provides a wide variety of unique bets that are only available during this game such as the over/under on total time of the national anthem, whether the coin toss will be heads or tails, which song will Rihanna sing first during the halftime show and so many more that aren’t including the game itself.
Being able to host the Super Bowl has become a coveted desire for NFL host cities. There are many reasons for wanting to be the host city but ultimately it comes down to the added revenue and economic boom that comes with the weeks leading up to the game. The state of Arizona will bring in over $500 million of added revenue from the Super Bowl. An example of this revenue stream is tourism tax as hotel prices rose an average of 300-400% per night in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area.
All of this goes to show how big of an influence the Super Bowl has become and how much money is being pumped into this event. A game that has been played for over 100 years has turned into one of the single largest annual events bringing in billions and billions of dollars.
