What is the economic and advertising impact of the Super Bowl?

The National Football League (NFL) final, known as the Super Bowl, is one of the most important sports events in the world. This year, the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, hosted Super Bowl LIX, where the Philadelphia Eagles claimed victory, dethroning the Kansas City Chiefs, who had won two consecutive championships. 

However, the significance of the Super Bowl goes far beyond sports. "The Super Bowl is a multidimensional phenomenon: it combines sports, entertainment, and advertising into a revenue-generating machine," explains David López López, marketing professor and associate dean of the Full-Time MBA program at Esade. 

Annual Super Bowl revenues range from $300 million to $1.3 billion

Major events like Super Bowl 2025 have an economic impact that directly or indirectly affects multiple industries, from food and music to technology and tourism. "However, the actual economic impact of the Super Bowl varies depending on the stakeholders we focus on. While brands and the NFL enjoy guaranteed profits, cities must carefully evaluate their investments," López warns. 

Annual Super Bowl revenues range from $300 million to $1.3 billion, while net profits for host cities hover around $150 million due to revenue leaks to national hotel chains and the NFL. For Super Bowl 2025, hotels in St. Tammany (New Orleans) reached rates of $600 per night and 96% occupancy, surpassing previous records. 

Nonetheless, experts like Mike Edwards (NC State) point out that the local economic impact is often exaggerated, and security and infrastructure costs fall on taxpayers. Additionally, gentrification is a concern: stadium construction for hosting the event has displaced residents in some cities, such as Glendale (Arizona), where the Super Bowl hosting cost up to $1.2 million in 2015. 

As López warns, the biggest beneficiary is the NFL, which retains 100% of ticket and merchandise revenue, along with multi-million-dollar deals with networks like CBS ($2.1 billion over 11 years). 

The Super Bowl versus other events

How does the economic impact of the Super Bowl compare to other major events? On a global scale, the FIFA World Cup dominates in both viewership and economic impact, with 1.5 billion viewers and an impact of up to $17 billion in the host country. 

Among the world's major events, the Super Bowl is the undisputed leader in advertising and marketing

Another recent example is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which has become the most lucrative musical event in history, generating over $1.04 billion in revenue and significantly impacting the local economy of each city (and even some countries). 

"While the Super Bowl is the undisputed leader in advertising and marketing, the FIFA World Cup remains the most powerful event globally, while the Eras Tour stands out for its emotional connection with fans and its influence on the music and tourism industries," asserts López. 

The Super Bowl’s impact on other industries

These large-scale events have the ability to create a ripple effect in other industries. One of the most curious examples of the Super Bowl’s impact is the increase in avocado imports. 

"Guacamole has become an essential snack for viewers. It is estimated that over 120,000 tons of avocados are imported from Mexico in the weeks leading up to the event," says López. According to the Mexican Association of Avocado Producers and Packers (APEAM), more than $300 million worth of avocados were sent to the US in preparation for the 2024 Super Bowl. 

The Super Bowl Halftime Show generates an immediate impact on the music industry

Other products that see a sharp rise in consumption include chicken wings—approximately 1.4 billion wings are consumed during the event—and beer, as the Super Bowl accounts for approximately 5% of annual beer sales in the US. 

Undoubtedly, one of the most memorable aspects of Super Bowl 2025 was Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show. This musical performance during the halftime break has an immediate impact on the music industry, increasing downloads of performing artists by up to 500%, as was the case with Usher in 2024 or Rihanna in 2023, who saw a 390% increase in sales of her catalog following her Super Bowl comeback. 

Additionally, Professor López notes that "companies like Apple Music have seen the opportunity and secured exclusive rights for the production and promotion of the Halftime Show, with deals valued at $50 million annually." 

Is it worth being an advertiser at the Super Bowl?

According to López, the Super Bowl audience stands out for its diversity, but an important factor is their high level of engagement. "77% of viewers pay attention to the ads, more than in any other sporting or television event," he points out. 

This partially explains the high cost of advertising at the event. In 2025, the cost of a 30-second ad rose to $8 million, marking a historic milestone. This year’s advertisers included Disney, promoting the new live-action Lilo & Stitch movie, and two tech giants promoting their respective artificial intelligence technologies: OpenAI with ChatGPT and Google with Gemini. 

However, the professor warns that the measurable impact of these advertising efforts is not entirely clear. In 2024, according to YouGov, only 24 out of more than 60 brands achieved a significant impact in brand awareness and purchase consideration. Kantar identified that only 12 out of 67 ads were considered "top performers." 

"For major brands with mass-market products, the Super Bowl remains the best advertising showcase in the world, but only if executed with a creative strategy well-aligned with the audience," asserts López. What is the key to success? "It’s not just about spending millions on an ad, but about creating a memorable story that connects with the audience and transcends the event," he says. 

Microtargeting or mass advertising?

Unlike digital platform ads that fragment audiences into niches, the Super Bowl remains one of the few events that still brings millions of people together in real time. "This creates a cultural impact that is difficult to replicate in hyper-segmented campaigns," explains López. “While microtargeting will continue to dominate digital marketing, advertising in large-scale events like the Super Bowl is essential for global branding.” 

It is true that mass advertising has a higher audience waste compared to microtargeting. “But in a world where consumer attention is more fragmented than ever, large-scale events remain one of the few opportunities for a brand to connect with millions of people simultaneously and generate an organic amplification effect,” he points out. 

The real challenge "is not to replace mass advertising, but to evolve and integrate it with digital strategies to maximize effectiveness." The solution for many brands is not choosing between mass advertising or microtargeting, but rather integrating both strategies intelligently. López highlights three key trends: 

• Synergy between both approaches. Many brands advertising during the Super Bowl complement their investment with digital retargeting strategies, ensuring they engage interested viewers after the event. 
• Segmentation within mass advertising. Technologies such as programmatic advertising on TV and streaming allow mass ads to be more relevant based on region, consumer behavior, and interests detected on digital platforms. 
• Interactive narratives. More and more brands are using the Super Bowl as a springboard for multichannel campaigns, directing viewers to personalized digital experiences on social media and e-commerce platforms.