The Real Cost of Super Bowl-dom

Big Money

Maybe they should call it the Super (Expensive) Bowl. With nosebleed game tickets topping $2,200, hotel rooms marked up as much as 1,758 percent, and 30-second television ads that sold for an average of $3.5 million each (that's $116,667 a second), Super Bowl XLVI is an orgy of corporate and consumer spending. It is marketing and merchandising gone mad -- the NFL offers up a Commemorative Super Bowl app even before the game takes place: "50% off pre-game!" (It's $2.99.) What follows are some of the larger costs in the Super Bowl economy.

Building the Stadium

Before Indianapolis could make a bid to host a Super Bowl, it needed a Super Bowl-worthy stadium. Lucas Oil Stadium cost $720 million to build -- at a very real cost to taxpayers. The Indianapolis Colts provided $100 million, and the state of Indiana and city of Indianapolis both raised funds. Marion County raised taxes on food and beverage sales, auto rentals, and hotels, among others things. Surrounding areas added a 1 percent restaurant tax. The Capital Improvement Board, which oversees the stadium, expects to lose about $800,000 hosting the game.

Building the Teams

According to NFL.com, the Patriots and Giants spent about the same amount on player salaries this season -- $63.7 million by the Giants and $62.3 million by the Patriots. Just how they allocated that money was quite different. The Patriots spent much more on offense ($39.7 million on salaries vs. the Giants' $30.4 million) and more on special team ($4 million vs. $3.5 million). The Giants spent $29.8 million on defense, about 60 percent more than the Patriots' $18.6 million for defensive salaries.

Being a Good Host

The Indianapolis Super Bowl Committee's operating budget for its three-block Super Bowl Village is $25 million, which was raised privately from individuals and corporations. A good chunk of that $25 million has gone to create the three-block Super Bowl Village, home to four zip-lines (cable rides down an incline), the super dash (run in humansize hamster wheels), 75 bands, and more. Among other outlays: The city has budgeted $4 million for public safety costs, to be reimbursed by the Capital Improvement Board through tax revenue from hotels, restaurants, and so on. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that direct Super Bowl spending in the Indianapolis area will be about $150 million. Other estimates place the number at $365 million.

Ticket Lotteries

The majority of tickets go to the two teams, which hold drawings for full-season ticket holders and those with club seats or suites. To get season tickets, Giants fans pay for a one-time personal seat license, or PSL. In 2011, a $20,000 PSL gave the right to buy tickets at the 50-yard-line "Coaches Club" for $700 per game. A $7,500 PSL in Mezzanine B offered the right to buy tickets in that section for $400 per game. Patriots fans who want season tickets face a long waiting list. To get on the list, fans pay $100 for a "membership." Season tickets cost $65 to $185 per game.

Ticket Resellers

The face value of tickets ranges from $800 to $1,200, but the cheapest listing on SeatGeek, an event ticket aggregator, is $2,247 for an upper-deck, end-zone seat. Prices have declined recently, according to TiqIQ, a ticket event aggregator that tracks listings from StubHub, EBay, TicketNetwork and TicketsNow. The average ticket price has fallen to $3,982, from $4,311, since Jan. 27; the cheapest ticket has fallen from $2,400 to $2,090. The most expensive ticket purchased on the NFL Ticket Exchange, the league's official resale website, sold the week of Jan. 23 for $16,480.

TV Upgrades

According to a National Retail Federation survey, 5.1 percent of Americans plan to upgrade their TVs for the game. The Federation estimates that will amount to 5.1 million new TVs, but retailers don't expect to sell that many. The Consumer Electronics Assn. says about 1.9 million TVs were bought in the first six weeks of 2011, a number unchanged from 2010. Currently, 87 percent of Americans have a high-definition television, the industry group says. Consumer Reports says it makes sense to wait to buy: In late February, retailers usually discount TVs to make room for new models.

Vegas Gambling

Last year the Nevada Gaming Control Board counted $87.5 million in bets on the Super Bowl, up 5.8 percent from 2010. Far more is bet in office pools and with illegal bookies, with estimates of $10 billion thrown around. Such figures are "nonsense," says Eugene Christiansen of consulting firm Christiansen Capital Advisors. "No one has a basis for such estimates." Many Vegas bookies are rooting for the Patriots because of large bets made on the Giants in late 2011, when a four-game losing streak made them, at one time, 100-1 underdogs to win the Super Bowl.

High-Priced Visits

Cheaphotels.org compared rates for hotels in and near Indianapolis on Feb. 5 and 6 with rates a week later. The biggest markup it found was at Knights Inn, Indianapolis Airport, where the rate for Super Bowl weekend was $725. A week later? $39. For those with no budget concerns, flying by private plane is popular. Nicholas Bozzo, of PlaneClear in Long Island City, N.Y., says traffic from New York for Super Bowl weekend is up 50 percent to 60 percent from last year. Planes with six or seven seats go for $12,000, he says, while 12-to-14-seaters run $30,000.

Super Parties

Leading up to the game, "there will be hundreds of parties with thousands of people at each," according to Tim Fraser of Ticketnetwork.com, which allows licensed sellers to make tickets available on its site. In Indianapolis, for those who aren't comp'd, a ticket to the Maxim VIP Party with Maxim girls, food, open bar and live entertainment is offered at $1,603 on Ticketnetwork.com, while a ticket into the Playboy VIP Party with live music by Ne-Yo can be had for $1,508. A ticket to the ESPN party, where Drake will perform, is selling for $1,037. For those on a budget (or who have a better way to spend $1,000), there's the Leather & Laces party. Among the L&L hosts: Jenny McCarthy and Carmen Electra. Ticket sellers are asking $437 to nearly $9,000.

Snacks and Gear

Consumers are expected to spend $11 billion on game-related food, clothing and merchandise, according to the National Retail Federation. That's $64 per person, up from $60 last year. Almost $700 million will go for snacks -- some 1.25 billion chicken wings among them. (Wing prices rise in the fourth quarter as restaurants stock up.) On game day, Pizza Hut's sales jump 50 percent vs. normal Sundays. It expects to sell more than 2 million pizzas at about $10 each, 80 percent with pepperoni. Public Affairs Director Christopher Fuller says Feb. 5 could be Pizza Hut's best day ever.

Television Ads

As many as 115 million viewers will watch the game, according to a Bloomberg story. NBC Universal, which reupped its contract with the NFL for an undisclosed amount, has sold all 70 ad slots at an average price of $3.5 million. Among this year's ads: Hyundai shows how its car can quicken the pulse of a man with no pulse and Samsung mocks Apple fans with its own version of the Next Big Thing. Last year, in the week after they ran Super Bowl ads, VW Passat interest surged 70 percent on Edmunds.com and Chrysler interest soared 87 percent.

Bonuses and Rings

Players on the winning team receive an $88,000 bonus, while losing players get $44,000. Those payouts have gradually risen since the first Super Bowl in 1967, when winners got $15,000 and losers received $7,500, the equivalent of $102,000 and $51,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Players, coaches, executives and others associated with the winning team also get a Super Bowl ring. While the NFL will pay up to $5,000 per ring for 150 rings, prices can go well beyond that depending on the level of bling desired. The Green Bay Packers rings from last year are made of platinum and 18-karat gold, with 3.35 karats-worth of diamonds.

Fuente: Bloomb