The baffling figures behind the Super Bowl
Big, bigger, Super Bowl! No other event attracts more eyeballs and sucks up more attention in the US, producing some truly amazing and nonsensical figures in viewership and money
Super Bowl LVIII
We have finally made it to one of my favourite times of the year, Super Bowl week! A week filled with joy and anticipation to the biggest event on the American sports calendar on Sunday February 11 (before the reality of a painfully long 7-month off-season hits you).
The Kansas City Chiefs are facing off against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium, the newest venue in the NFL. After hosting its first ever F1 race in November of last year, Vegas is ready for its next monumental sporting spectacle, and they do not come any bigger in the US than the Super Bowl.
For the Chiefs, this marks their fourth Super Bowl appearance in five seasons, having secured a victory twice (2020 and 2023), while losing one (2021). We even have ourselves a rematch of the 2020 Super Bowl, where the Chiefs rallied back in the 4th quarter to outduel the 49ers 31-20 in a thrilling encounter. It will be a duel between two of the games most prolific offensive minds in the 49ers head coach Kyle Shannahan and his counterpart in Andy Reid. We will have the privilege to enjoy watching arguably the most prolific passer ever in Mahomes in another Super Bowl, as well as the highly choreographed and intricate Shannahan offense of the 49ers (leading the league in offensive efficiency and EPA by a mile).
It will be an absolute treat, and today we will gear up for Sunday’s game and dive into the figures behind one of the world’s biggest sporting/entertainment events, as well as provide some curious fun facts about everything surrounding the Super Bowl. Enjoy!
Viewership
The Super Bowl is unrivalled in its viewership figures across the US, and permanently occupies the top spot of the most watched live program in the country every year. Last year’s exciting 38-35 victory of the Chiefs over the Philadelphia Eagles was the most watched Super Bowl and live telecast of all times with 115.1 million viewers, marking a significant resurgence in viewership to the levels of the mid-2010s, after a few down years. With an all-time great in Mahomes returning to the the Super Bowl, and the 49ers hailing from a large media market, we can expect similar interest and numbers this year.
We are also coming off of the most watched Conference Championship weekend in the history of the NFL. The AFC Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens averaged 55.47m viewers (peaking at 64.02 million), with the NFC Championship victory of the San Francisco 49ers over the Detroit Lions averaging 56.69m (peaking at 59.97 million). The combined average of 56.1 million between these two games was up 11% over last years Conference Championship Games.
It is impressive to see the evolution in viewership, how the NFL continually grew in popularity. The Super Bowl era began in 1967, drawing in a staggering 26.8 million viewers in already. From there, they never looked back and the 100 million viewer threshold was surpassed in 2010’s Super Bowl XLIV. Viewership numbers fluctuate annually, influenced by factors such as the star power of players in the game and the teams involved. Generally, teams from larger population or media markets tend to attract more viewers.
Funnily enough, the halftime show usually trumps the game viewership figures, as was the case last year. Rihanna’s Halftime show attracted a viewership of 121.0 million, eclipsing the game’s viewership of 115.1 million.
Blow it all in 30 seconds
There are many ways to burn money in Vegas, but nothing will come close to having one of the highly coveted ad spots during the game. A 30-sec ad slot will cost you a casual $7m this year, equating to a jaw-dropping $233k per second. These sums may sound ludicrous for a brief ad spot, but nowhere else can a company reach this many Americans at once. Back in the days of Super Bowl I, you could get a 30-sec spot for $42.5k, which would not even get you to 0.2sec today. Some companies even have the audacity to book multi-spots, as Amazon did in 2022, when it spent a whopping $26m to run a 130sec Alexa voice assistant ad. In total there will be around 70 ad slots available this year, which will generate an astounding $500m in ad revenue from the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl ads themselves have become a bit of a phenomenon, with advertisers trying to one up another and create the most memorable ad of the night. Nearly an equal amount of the discourse on post-Super Bowl Monday is dedicated to the ads as is to the actual game. Kill it with your ad and you may reap additional “free” media coverage that can generate value far outpacing the money a company actually spent to run the ad. Over the years there have also been some truly iconic ads that came from the Super Bowl, such as Apple’s infamous 1984 ad for the new Macintosh (they never even showed the product), the 1980 “Hey Kid, Catch” Coca Cola ad, or a personal favourite, the 2011 VW “The Force” ad. You can find a selection of the 32 most iconic ads here, definitely worth a watch.
The all-time leaders in Super Bowl commercials are Budweiser (142), Pepsi (97), McDonalds (54), Ford (52) and Coca Cola (51). There are some ebbs and flows with the types of advertisers in Super Bowl, such as the surge in crypto-related ads in 2021 and 2022 (expecting a lot less of those now), but the staples are usually snacks/food, cars, soft drinks and beers, as well as trailers for upcoming blockbusters. With the NFL increasingly embracing gambling and the first Super Bowl in Vegas, expect a plethora of gambling and sportsbook-related ads.
Between 2010 and 2020, the following advertisers aired the most ads during Super Bowls:
Ticket prices
Super Bowl tickets have always been expensive, painfully so, but with the Game being in the event city Vegas, prices have soared to unprecedented levels. Average ticket prices for the game are the highest they have ever been, with average ticket prices for one seat hovering around $9,800. The VIP lounge game is where we get into the truly outlandish and dumbfounding territory, with some priced from $1.4m to an eye-popping $2.4m. At least when you pay $2.4m you get 20 tickets in the lounge, bringing down the per person cost of a ticket to a mere $125k. The price of these lounges is more than many of the players on the pitch make in a year (especially the 49ers QB Purdy, who we will get to in more detail shortly).
Interestingly enough, players participating in the Super Bowl do not receive complementary free tickets by the NFL, but solely the option to purchase up to 13 tickets at face value for the game (which we have seen can be very expensive). Especially for rookies, who do not (yet) have multimillion-dollar salaries, this can be quite burdensome if they want to invite their friends and families. The recently released Jason Kelce documentary revealed that for last years Super Bowl the Eagles Center paid $50k for additional tickets for his two young kids, his wife, as well as her and his parents. At one point in the documentary his wife Kylie can be heard saying:
“We’re paying almost $4,000 for a (expletive) kid who is not going to sit in a seat to watch her dad play in a game. That’s bananas.”
There are no free lunches with the NFL, not even when you reach the Super Bowl.
Fun facts
Given the magnitude of the Super Bowl, one random fun fact alone simply won’t suffice. This event is synonymous with extravagance, making it impossible to encapsulate in just one titbit. Thus, here is a collection of my favourite and the most fascinating details about the game:
Quarterback salary: The two most important players on each team facing off against one another, the QBs, are on very different levels in terms of salary. Mahomes, arguably the greatest ever to sling the football, signed a gigantic 10-year $450m deal in 2020 that got restructured this past season by the Chiefs to guarantee $210.6m over the next 4 season, paying him $52.65m annually. On the other end of the spectrum we have Brock Purdy, selected with the final pick in 2022’s draft by the 49ers, pick #262 (with the last pick in every draft pick also known as “Mr. Irrelevant”), in which he signed a 4-year $3.7m deal, giving him an annual salary of $870k, which is less than the most expensive tickets for suites at this year’s Super Bowl. A whopping 94 QBs in the league earned more money this season than Purdy. The Purdy story is amazing in general, going from Mr. Irrelevant, to starter last season and now leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl this year. It gets even better when juxtaposed against Mahomes, the highest paid QB who is held in the highest regard as well. Sometimes the stories just write themselves in sports.
Halftime Show: Contrary to common belief, musical acts do not receive payment for their performances. The exposure gained from reaching an audience of over 100 million viewers is considered reward enough. Apple sponsors the halftime show to the tune of $50m per year, with the NFL pocketing $35m directly and using the remaining $15m to cover the production costs of the show (2-3k part-time workers, production crews, set design, dancers, security, logistics and marketing). In recent years, artists have taken it upon themselves to enhance the production value even further by investing their own money. Examples include The Weeknd in 2021 and Dr. Dre in 2022, both of whom spent approximately an additional $7 million to realize their creative vision. This year’s unpaid act will be Usher, performing in the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show. Funny aside, Taylor Swift has famously rejected being the halftime show act on multiple occasions, as she does not need the extra exposure, but she will be in attendance this year around, not to sing however (though you never know who the acts bring in as guest stars), but to support her partner Travis Kelce on the Chiefs.
Roman numerals: There is an annual spike in Google searches for how to read roman numerals preceding every Super Bowl. LVIII stands for 58, just to spare you the embarrassment of googling it.
Death star: Allegiant Stadium in Vegas is home to the Las Vegas Raiders (formerly of Oakland) and is known as the death star, due to it being a dome with a very distinct black outer façade
Gambling: As the number of states legalizing gambling in the US continues to rise (now exceeding 30 states), an increasing number of Americans, over 100 million, have gained access to legal sports betting in their home states. This surge has led to a significant influx of gambling money into the industry and the NFL has even begun partnering with sportsbooks, casinos and betting companies as advertisers. The NFL has implemented very strict rules with regards to sports betting by its players (to ensure the integrity of the game is maintained) and has been ruthless in sanctioning individuals found violating these rules, even in cases where the betting does not involve games in which they are directly participating or have any influence over the outcome. Prominent examples include Calvin Ridley (suspended for a year for betting on games over a 5-week period he was not involved with), Jameson Williams (suspended for 6 weeks for betting on a college game). The NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has sent out a memo ahead of the game telling staff from all teams that the league’s policy bars them from betting on sports or entering a sportsbook in Vegas. Employees of the participating Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will not even be allowed to play any casino games until Super Bowl LVIII concludes on Feb. 11.
“Super Bowl LVIII is a highly anticipated and thrilling event for our fans and viewers. With fans across the globe tuning into the game and related events, we must all do our part to protect the integrity [of] our game and avoid even the appearance of improper conduct”
(Note: There is an entire separate discussion to be held about leagues getting in bed with casino, sportsbook and gambling in general and the impact of it on the integrity of the game, but that is not isolated to the NFL)
Patrick Mahomes: This exceptional athlete deserves his own little shoutout, as he has been a phenom ever since he became a starter in the NFL. Mahomes is 28 years old and has been a starter for the Chiefs for 6 seasons now, and in that time he has built up a more than impressive track record:
Led the Chiefs to 6 AFC Championship Games (semi-finals) in a row (every year he has started)
Led the Chiefs to 4 Super Bowls
Won 2 of the 3 Super Bowls he’s plaid in, being down by double digit points in every Super Bowl so far
Won 2x Super Bowl MVPs, won 2x regular season MVPs
Has a playoff record of 14-3, which is basically an entire additional season, where his stats are an elite 4,802yrds passing, 458yrds rushing, 39 passing TDs, 5 rushing TDs, 7 interceptions, 67.4% completion % and a 106.3 quarterback rating (highest all-time)
At only 28 years of age he is already tied for 3rd in all-time playoff wins by a QB (together with Payton Manning, Steve Young, John Elway and Teddy Bradshaw, all first-ballot Hall of Famers), only 2 wins behind the 16 of 4x time Super Bowl champ Joe Montana, and a far way off of #1 Tom Brady with 35 wins (Brady playoff stats due to his success and longevity are insane)
Win or lose, even if Mahomes never played another snap in his life after this game, he would be a surefire lock to be a Hall of Famer. He is the only one who comes close and has a somewhat realistic chance to equal or even surpass the achievements and numbers of Tom Brady (though winning 7 Super Bowl rings will be a tough tough ask, even for the most talented QB to ever play the game)
Betting: The Super Bowl has always been the place for wacky and amusing prop bets, which now more people can bet on than ever, as we have seen with the expanded legalization of sports betting in the US. Some of the most random ones include:
Colour of the first Gatorade poured on winning head coach (the betting favourite is red/pink at +260)
Coin toss (an equal -104 for both heads and tails)
Length of the national anthem sung (over 90.5sec at +102, under at -128)
Halftime show #of songs (over/under 8.5 songs both at -125)
How many times will Taylor Swift be shown (over 4.5 at -175 odds, under 4.5 at +135)
And then of course all the boring actually game related props like first TD, Super Bowl MVP, passing/rushing over/under and all that
Btw, the 49ers are slightly favoured by -2.5pts, with a -130 money line when betting on them to win vs. a +110 money line when betting on a Chiefs win (Note: Mahomes is 9-3 straight up in his career as an underdog, do with that information what you like)
Game changers: A little player guide to focus on and pretend like you know a bit of ball
Key players Chiefs:
Offense: Patrick Mahomes (QB), Travis Kelce (TE), Rashee Rice (WR), Isiah Pacheco (RB)
Defense: Chris Jones (DT), L’Jarius Sneed (CB), Nick Bolton (LB), George Karlaftis (DE), Trent McDuffie (CB)
Key players 49ers:
Offense: Brock Purdy (QB), Christian McCaffrey (RB), Brandon Aiyuk (WR), George Kittle (TE), Deebo Samuel (WR), Trent Williams (T)
Defense: Nick Bosa (DL), Fred Warner (LB), Dre Greenlaw (LB), Charvarius Ward (CB)
We are all ready and set now!
Will Mahomes be able win his 3rd Super Bowl in 5 years and cement this Chiefs run as an unquestioned dynasty? Can they become the first team since the ’04 and ’05 Patriots to win back-to-back titles? Will Mr. Irrelevant complete the fairytale story and bring a Lombardi trophy back to the Bay Area after almost 30 years? What color will the Gatorade shower have? All of these tantalizing questions will be answered on Sunday. I am stoked and cannot wait for the Super Bowl 58 to get going!
I hope you have a better appreciation for the game and sheer numbers behind this gigantic spectacle. Enjoy the game!
If you have enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and subscribing, much appreciated!
