The NFL postseason is upon us and the lucky players to still be in contention are now looking forward to winning the next few games and potentially joining the legions of legends as a Super Bowl champion. Only one team can win the biggest game in the sport – and only one city can host the event.
The Super Bowl is one of those few events that has transcended the sport itself. Even non-football fans will be aware of it happening – and who is scheduled to perform the world-famous halftime show. The Super Bowl betting online markets are already doing brisk business and everything is gearing towards that special day at the beginning of February.
New Orleans is the place to be this year, as the Caesars Superdome hosts its eighth Super Bowl, with the Big Easy staging ten in total so far. All eyes will be on the game but what does the host city get out of staging the greatest show on Earth?
Host City Requirements
The location for the Super Bowl is usually determined well in advance, with every championship game up to 2028 already chosen. But the big game will probably never visit some cities, due to the NFL’s strict guidelines on bidding for the right to stage football’s prize game.
The necessary infrastructure must already be in place – and many cities use taxpayer dollars to improve stadiums to meet this criteria. The stadium must have at least 70,000 seats, enough hotel rooms nearby and big enough venues for media and team training centers. The weather also has to be warm, although stadiums in colder climates with roofs have been used.
Good for the NFL
When local mayors try to sell the idea of staging the Super Bowl to their cities, it is usually with the promise of a huge boost in investment and money coming into the area. The Super Bowl can make up to a billion dollars, after all. But not all of that money will be seen by New Orleans this year.
The NFL actually takes a large portion of the money made from any Super Bowl, including all ticket receipts and other merchandise sales. As much as a city might look forward to the economic boost this huge global event offers, it is invariably the league itself that does the best business out if its championship game.
Local Economic Impact
As much as the Super Bowl primarily boosts the NFL’s own bank accounts, there is no doubt that local businesses also see an upturn in profits. There will be some additional costs, of course, but the sheer number of people visiting the city will undoubtedly bring in money and boost sales.
Small businesses, in particular, will experience a boost in trade and the city as a whole will experience a spike in tourism. This is probably the most important element of the positive side of a Super Bowl for a host city. Although all host cities will already be popular tourist destinations, the size of this event – out of season – is a major plus point.
Marketing Opportunity
In the history of Super Bowls, only 27 different stadiums have been used, with just 14 hosting more than one. The majority of these have been in California, Florida, and Louisiana. That might seem unfair on all the other cities who can boast an NFL team but it does mean that the likes of Miami, Los Angeles, and New Orleans can market themselves as a sports event destination.
New Orleans is actually gearing up for its third Super Bowl this century and can add the most popular sports game in the US to the list of its many attractions. With the media spotlight firmly on the city for the build-up to the big event, there are countless opportunities for New Orleans to sell itself to potential visitors and tourists.
Super Bowl Champs
The perfect opportunity for a city to market itself and cash in on a greater scale than usual at Super Bowl time would be when the local team gets to play for the championship in its own stadium. However, remarkably, this has only ever happened on two occasions in the history of the event.
The Buccaneers won in Tampa in 2021, with the Rams claiming the championship a year later in Los Angeles. Although this could mean a drop in visitors to the city, that shortfall is more than made up by the money spent by locals as they celebrate their team’s win.
The Event is What Matters
When it comes to Super Bowls a lot is made of how much money will be made from the event – and where those profits will go. But the main positive factor for any city lucky enough to host the big show is that it will be the place for a million different memories to be made. The city will forever be linked with that Super Bowl and everything that happened at that time.
Any fan or visitor lucky enough to be in a host city at this time of year will remember the experience and the destination is able to profit from that experience. Sports tourism is about a lot of things but the chance to “be there” will always be the biggest attraction.
