As the professional football season ended, the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots prepared to face off in the national championship game. More popularly known as the Super Bowl, the game was played at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and hosted the AFC and NFC division winners of the NFL on February 4, 2018. While many were mostly focused on the outcome of the big game, there were many things that have to be paid for that people just aren’t fully comprehending.
Built just a couple years back, the Vikings stadium is able to expand and hold up to 70,000 fans total. Although this is a very large number of people, ticket prices still skyrocketed due to the exclusiveness of the event.
According to A.J. Perez of USA Today, “the average price for a ticket sold on StubHub as of Tuesday afternoon was $5,415, in excess of $1,000 more than the average price of the most expensive Super Bowl tracked (Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos).” Ticket prices are at an all time high, and buying them is just one of the many monetary concerns raised by Super Bowl weekend.
In Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding suburbs, visitors struggled to find places to stay. Hotels began to run out of rooms, which means people had to start expanding visions to further destinations. Fortunately, the situation was a win for one part of the equation.
Airbnb home rental owners received a surge of interest in renting places to stay in the urban, downtown areas of Minneapolis once people began to realize that hotels were full. Experts projected that the company would make at least $3.7 million just from the one weekend. The average price of a rental home is around $240 while hotel rooms soared to over $600 a night. Therefore, out-of-town visitors generally had a stronger attraction to lower prices as long as they are decently convenient.
Alongside attendees of the 2018 Super Bowl, those at home also observed the effects of the millions of dollars that revolved around the event. A common tradition for watching the game is throwing a viewing party. Parties often have catered food, football-related decorations, and betting games. When added up across the entire country, the amount of money Americans spend each year begins to rise rapidly.
Statista.com reports, “It is estimated that a total amount of 15.3 billion U.S. dollars will be spent by consumers in the U.S. on Super Bowl related purchases in 2018. These purchases include…foods and beverages, game-related merchandise, other apparel, decorations and televisions.” Over 15 billion dollars will be spent on one single weekend in celebration of a football game, which is clear evidence of American football’s importance to the United States.
A third expenditure for Super Bowl LII is a tradition that has slim correlation with the football to begin with. For many years, the commercial breaks have been a major highlight of the game. The sole interest in what companies produce attracts a portion of viewers annually. Although some of the ads are talked about for weeks after their release, the money put into them is never really emphasized. “The average price of a 30-second ad during Game 7 of the 2016 World Series was just over $500,000. The price for a similar spot during the 2016 Oscars cost about $2 million,” reports Sports Illustrated.
Whether it be fans at home, those in the stands, or players on the field, millions upon millions of dollars are spent on an event that happens merely once a year. All the celebrations are a perfect indicator of the importance that Americans hold for the Super Bowl and for professional football overall.
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