Super Bowl Parties to Get Scaled Back Slightly for Great Recession
Posted on January 25, 2009
167 million adults will watch the Super Bowl according to a a survey conducted by BIGresearch for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. That's up slightly from 158 million last year. The study found that Super Bowl parties will likely be scaled back this year. Super Bowl viewers plan to spend an average of $57.27 on food, team apparel and other merchandise which is less than the $59.90 they said they'd spend last year. Even though overall spending is down people still plan to spend more on Super Bowl food and snacks.
"With the economy on everyone's mind, most Super Bowl viewers will tone down their plans this year," said Mike Gatti, RAMA Executive Director. "Retailers will be featuring promotions on everything from televisions to potato chips with the hopes of bringing in sales in the midst of a difficult environment."
Fewer people plan to buy electronics, apparel and furniture for the big game but the food and beverage category is expected to climb. Nearly three-quarters of consumers (72.4%) will buy food and beverages for the evening, compared to 67.4% last year.
Here's some other highlights from the study:
- According to the survey, less than half of Super Bowl viewers tune in for the game itself (46.1%). Other watch the commercials (26.9%), half time show (7.1%) or use it as an opportunity to get together with friends (19.9%).
- 79.3% of those surveyed see the Super Bowl commercials as entertainment
- 21.4% of people wish advertisers would skip buying Super Bowl ads, save their money and pass the savings onto them
Some big advertisers including General Motors and FedEx have decided not to run Super Bowl ads this year. Some advertisers like Kellogg and Pedigree will run ads for good causes but most of the advertisers are still going for laughs.
There is also less interest in Super Bowl tickets this year which could be because of the economy and/or because there is less interest in the teams playing - the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. The big game is February 1st.