2024 Super Bowl LVIII by the Numbers

2024 Super Bowl LVIII by the Numbers

Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium will be the setting on Sunday, February 11, 2024 for the 58^th Super Bowl.  The San Francisco 49ers will battle the Kansas City Chiefs for the NFL’s ultimate prize and bragging rights.  Breaking the game down by the numbers starts with these team’s prior appearances in the Super Bowl.  The 49ers have made it to the Super Bowl 8 times, 5 of those resulting in wins.  The Chiefs have appeared 6 times and winning 3, the most recent of which was in 2023.  Each member of the Chiefs team received $157,000 as a bonus for the game last year, with the Philadelphia Eagles players receiving $82,000 each as a consolation prize.

Beyond dates, scores and salaries, there are countless other numbers that make up the big game. 71,825 fans are expected to attend this year’s game in person, with an estimated 16.2 million fans watching in a bar or restaurant and another 112.2 million planning on attending or hosting a Super Bowl party.  For fans lucky enough to obtain a ticket to the game, they will spend an average of $10,752 per ticket (the lowest price listed this year on the resale market was $8,586, which is an increase of 113% from just last year.)  The financial impact to the city of Las Vegas is estimated to be $1.1 billion.  There are 156,000 available hotel rooms for the game, with $299 being the cheapest advertised cost per room per night.

As far as food and beverages go, it is estimated that the average person consumes a whopping 8,000-10,000 calories on Super Bowl Sundays.  The fan favorite foods are chips and dip, pizza, chicken wings and chili.  Pizza orders go up 35% on Super Bowl Sundays vs other regular Sundays.  Not all those calories come from food, however.  Approximately 50 million cases of beer will be sold ($1 billion worth), $227 million will be spent on whiskey and another $517 million on soft drinks.  Beer consumption is up 90% on Super Bowl Sundays vs any other day of the year.

18.8 million people will miss work the day after the game.  When asked what they would give up to be able to attend a game in person, 35% said they would go a year without drinking, 28% would forego their favorite food for a year, 21% would give up all their vacation time from work and another 43% would give up one of their work holidays to the take the day after the game off.

Nearly 20% of people say that the commercials are their favorite part of the game. The Budweiser ads with their iconic Clydesdale horses have long been synonymous with the Super Bowl and Budweiser remains the company that has spent the most on Super Bowl commercials, spending $470.5 million since the first game in 1967 through the 2021 game.   Each fan seems to have their own favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time, with funny or heartwarming ads getting the most mentions. The cost for a 30-second ad this year is $7 million. This is a 192% increase for the cost of this same 30-second ad over the span of 20 years.   There will be 38 minutes and 45 seconds of ads in 2024.  While the ads are costly, 53% of people say the ad will not change their impression of the brand being advertised.

Denver is one of 15 NFL cities to never have hosted a Super Bowl.   While it seems like an ideal city for the game, it has never been a serious contender.  On the positive side, it has a large, robust metro population, 6 decades of history with the Broncos including 3 Super Bowl wins, a breathtaking view of the Rocky Mountains (which could also entice some visitors to extend their stay here to spend a few days skiing), 50,000 available hotel rooms in the metro area, a vibrant downtown within walking distance to Empower Field, the third busiest U.S. airport, and is in the geographical center of the country, making it easily accessible.

Why then, hasn’t it been considered as a host city?  The downsides, according to the NFL selection committee, are the weather in Colorado in January/February and Empower Field itself.  Of the first 56 Super Bowl games, 50 were held in warm-weather climates, and 5 of the remaining 6 were held in indoor stadiums.  Empower Field is considered “old” to the committee.  It was built 21 years ago, ranking 16^th oldest of NFL stadiums. It was built at a cost of $400.7 million, and has not undergone any major renovations since then, and pales in comparison to venues like Las Vegas’ $1.9 billion Allegient Field.  Newer stadiums have changed dramatically since Empower Field was built.  No longer are they merely stadiums for sporting events and perhaps an occasional concert; they have been referred to as “opulent palaces” and hubs for shopping and entertainment.

The NFL places the entire cost of hosting a game onto that city’s shoulders.  Mentioned 45 times in the NFL’s 153-page bid book of requirements for host cities, it mentions the statement “at no cost to the NFL” 45 times. The host city must pay for such things as public transportation upgrades if needed, billboards and ads, police overtime and a laundry list of other things, not the least of which is an exemption of the NFL paying city, state and local taxes.  Let’s not forget that the NFL also gets to use the stadium free for the game.  Many cities who have hosted the game bring in a fraction of the revenue the host committee and the NFL claim they will after all the costs the cities incur are deducted from the gross revenue.  The NFL has complete control of this strange, “manufactured holiday” that is Super Bowl Sunday.  If a city isn’t willing to pay all the costs associated with hosting it, some other city will.

For now, we Colorado football fans will have to be content with eating and drinking too much, sitting back and enjoying the game and all its festivities, deciding which commercial was our favorite and spending Monday talking about the game, the commercials and the halftime show which we will either love or hate.   Are you ready for some football??

By Barbara Crimond