This Sunday, either the New York Giants or the New England Patriots will come away with the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which goes to the winner of the NFL‘s championship game called the Super Bowl, being played this year at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
I came across a couple of interesting statistics and facts about this weekend’s game, so I thought I’d share. Hope you enjoy.
The Host City: Indianapolis
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Indianapolis, the 12th most populous U.S. city, is the northernmost city in the United States to host the Super Bowl since Detroit hosted Super Bowl XL in 2006.
The Census Bureau also reports that it takes, on average, Indianapolis residents 22.2 minutes to get to work, with 82.6 percent of the city’s workers driving to work alone, 9.2 percent carpooling and 1.8 percent using public transportation. Guess the drive could be longer on Sunday?
Consumer Spending
In a a survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association conducted by BIGinsight, 173 million people will watch the Patriots square off against the Giants. Further, “consumer spending for the Super Bowl will reach an all-time high, too, with the average game-watcher expected to shell out $63.87 on related merchandise, apparel and snacks, up from $59.33 last year. Total Super Bowl spending is expected to reach $11 billion.”
According to the survey, grocery, apparel, electronics, sporting goods and home furnishing stores can expect to see their share of Super Bowl-related spending as sports fans head out to buy food and beverages (71.3 percent), team apparel or accessories (8.6 percent), decorations (6.4 percent), and furniture or a new entertainment center (2.4 percent).
Advertising
It’s reported that a 30-second commercial costs $3.5 million on average this year, up from $3 million from last year. Reuters reports that advertisers, “having spent record-breaking sums to secure the most valuable television slots in advertising, global brands from Coca-Cola to Volkwagen are looking to leverage social media to extend the buzz and reach of their ads.”
Consumer research forecasts that 60 percent of fans watching the Super Bowl will also be tied into a second screen such as a smartphone or tablet.
Coca-Cola’s TV commercials, which will air during the first-and second-quarter breaks, will center around its computer-generated Arctic polar bears watching the game. The bears will then be brought to life on Twitter, Facebook and on a dedicated Website doing such things as responding to fans and commenting on the game. They will even have their own Twitter hashtag –#GameDayPolarBears — for fans to follow.
Audi hopes to continue the conversation about the ad via the Twitter hashtag #SoLongVampires.
Security
The Associate Press reports that the National Football League’s showcase event will consume 44 blocks in the heart of the city, closing off streets and forcing an anticipated 150,000 or more fans to jockey with downtown workers for space much of the week. In addition:
Up to 1,000 city police officers will be in the stadium and on the street, carrying smartphones and other electronic hand-held devices that will enable them to feed photos and video to a new state-of-the-art operations center on the city’s east side, or to cruisers driven by officers providing backup, according to the city’s public safety director. Hundreds of officers from other agencies, including the state police and the FBI, will be scanning the crowd for signs of pickpocketing, prostitution or other trouble.
The Game Itself
NBC TV is your broadcast source in case you’re not going to be at the game in person. Kick-off is slated for 6:30 p.m.
So, who’s going to win? Who are you pulling for? The Giants? The Patriots? Or perhaps you don’t really care about the game, or the teams, but you can’t wait for the commercials!
Share your feelings at the comments link on the left. Just don’t expect me to read them on Sunday. I’ll be enjoying the game, chips and dip, and hopefully some funny commercials.
