💰 SB LVIII + Sin City = $$$

Review of the money-making weekend that was

And just like that folks, the Super Bowl has come and gone. You gained all your weight back after “Dry January”, you finally cooled down after Usher took his shirt off during halftime, and you haven’t stopped crying in joy that T-Swift has a man she loves and won’t bash him on her new album. Oh, there was a game that happened too—but after 4 quarters of completely boring football, I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t want to talk about that part.

After what ended up being only the second Super Bowl to go into overtime, let’s talk about the week that was. The business behind the Super Bowl, how having the Super Bowl in Las Vegas added to the money-grabbing week, the pricing for crazy commercials, Usher’s free halftime performance, and how the second straight Super Bowl win affects the Kansas City Chiefs as a franchise. Let’s get into it…

The Business of the Super Bowl:

• It’s no secret the Super Bowl is one of the most watched events in the world, which is why businesses continue to dump barrels of money for an opportunity to showcase their products and services to a large audience.

• It’s also a way for businesses to build relationships with their customers. Companies often host Super Bowl parties and offer special promotions to their customers. This helps to create a sense of loyalty and connection between the business and its customers.

• Last year, Super Bowl 57 set a record for averaging 115.1 million viewers for its telecast of the Chiefs’ victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

  • It was initially predicted, this year’s big game would outpace last year’s numbers due to the new wave of NFL viewers watching Taylor Swift go crazy for her mans, Travis Kelce.

• And oh baby did it ever! According to Nielson, Super Bowl 58 drew a record audience of 123.4 million viewers which stands alone as the most-watched event in American TV history (I’m picking up my bottom jaw from the floor now).

The ever-so popular commercials during Super Bowl Sunday:

• Don’t you dare try going to the bathroom when the game is on break, or you’ll end up missing crazy, funny, and star-studded commercials. Just like we spoke about, this is the time for companies to flex their wallets to showcase their products and services to hundreds of millions of viewers.

• For the second consecutive year, the average cost of a 30-second ad spot during the Super Bowl was $7 million.

  • For reference: 10 years ago, the average cost of a 30-second spot was $4 million; 20 years ago, it was $2.4 million.

    • Analysts say the rise is a result of supply and demand: With a fixed amount of time and advertising spots for each Super Bowl broadcast, competition has never been more intense.

  • The price continues to increase as more and more viewers have moved to watching shows through streaming platforms. This is considered the most optimal time for companies to reach a mass audience as advertising on network television has dwindled.

• With the additional NFL storyline of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce being a “thing” 😉, there has been a rise in female viewership for NFL games this season. And with the Chiefs being in the Super Bowl, the amount of health and beauty companies that want to market to younger women increased quite a bit.

  • NYX Makeup, a subsidiary of L’Oreal, bought its first Super Bowl ad spot.

  • Dove returned for multiple ad spots for the first time since 2015.

  • E.L.F. cosmetics is advertising for the second straight year.

Sheeeshhh Usher that halftime performance:

• Fun Fact: The NFL doesn’t pay their performers for the halftime show. Which means Usher didn’t get a dime by the NFL…and sometimes those performers will need to spend millions for their own show 🤯.

  • The NFL, instead, covers the production costs of the halftime show.

  • In 2021 and 2022, The Weeknd and Dr. Dre spent about $7 million of their own hard earned cash for their shows.

• But the whole point is for the attention and eyeballs. Artist streams, tour ticket sales, and album sales catapult after these halftime performances.

  • Last year, Rihanna drew 121 million viewers—the most watched halftime show ever (because, duh, it’s RiRi). She saw a 390% spike in song sales and ~840% spike in searches for her Fenty Beauty brand (which she displayed during the show) 📈.

  • In 2020, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez streaming numbers soared upwards of ~270% and ~190%.

  • In 2017, Lady Gaga saw a 1000% jump in album sales after her performance.

• It’s a great marketing move for Usher, as he just dropped his first album since 2018 called, Coming Home.

• And according to Apex Marketing Group, Usher earned an estimated equivalent of $52.5 million in exposure while performing.

Overall, how did Super Bowl LVIII fair?

• Extra time was only a benefit for CBS: Besides the fact that the game got way more interesting after a defensive battle for 4 quarters, CBS walked away from Sin City with another $60 million towards their total ad haul of $695 million because of the additional 15 minutes of overtime. They had extra advertisements ready to go in case of an emergency. (I guess it’s good to be somewhat prepared 😉).

• Expect that franchise valuation to skyrocket: The Chiefs are the first team to win consecutive Super Bowls since the 2003–04 New England Patriots. And they’ve won 3 out of the last 5 Super Bowls. Yep, people are throwing around the “dynasty” word. But before the season, Forbes had them listed as 23rd out of 32 NFL teams with a valuation of $4.3 billion. We know Kansas City isn’t the #1 market in the US, but winning changes everything. Expect that valuation number to climb.

• Las Vegas was the perfect host city: There’s not many cities in the US that can check all the boxes when it comes to hosting a Super Bowl. Tons of hotel rooms for visitors ✅ Nice weather during the early weeks of February ✅ Beautiful new stadium ✅ Fun things to do besides Super Bowl related activities (casinos, concerts at the Sphere, pool parties, great restaurants/bars, etc.) ✅. Vegas was made to host big sporting events and this isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

• Average Joe’s are getting priced out: Even though this year’s Super Bowl was one of the more location and consumer-friendly destinations, it doesn’t take away the fact that attending the game will cost you an arm and a leg. Average secondary ticket market list pricing reached ~$10.7k, according to the ticket aggregator TicketIQ. TickPick, meanwhile, said average purchase prices reached ~$9.8k per ticket, also a record figure and 70% higher than a year ago. We know this might have been the perfect storm of high ticket prices with this year’s formula of: loyal fanbases + Viva La Vegas + T-Swift appeal…but something’s gotta give (see Table 1).

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Quick Hitters

• 🏛️ Back in December, Washington Capitals and Wizards Owner, Ted Leonsis, unveiled plans with Virgnia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to develop a $2 billion sports and entertainment district in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard. The plan was to move away from DC’s Chinatown with the new project set to include a new arena, new practice facility for the Wizards, a performing arts center, a studio for Leonsis’ company (Monumental Sports Network), hotels, a convention center, housing, and retail. However, there seems to be a massive holdup and deep political divisions moving the teams to VA as the chair of Virginia’s finance committee refuses to hold a hearing on the proposed development (things are about to get spicy 🌶️).

• ⛳️ It’s official, Tiger Woods has a new apparel brand with TaylorMade called, “Sun Day Red”. Sun Day Red will be a separate brand and business for TaylorMade. They will launch its first line of apparel for men on May 1, with footwear, women, and kids’ lines following soon after.

• 🎰 Just minutes after the Super Bowl concluded, Barstool Sports was off the hook with Penn Entertainment and announced a new multiyear sports betting partnership with DraftKings. After Penn unloaded Barstool and decided to partner with ESPN and create ESPNBet instead, Barstool was unable to partner with a sportsbook until after the NFL season. Reports are Barstool will promote DraftKings odds and benefit from customers referred to the sportsbook.

• 📦 Amazon Prime will get exclusive rights to an NFL Playoff game next season. Just like Peacock had an exclusive playoff NFL game, which drew 23 million viewers and accounted for 30% of web traffic—Amazon will look to mimic that success in 2025 and add their own flare to the playoffs.