CMO: 3 Ways the Big Game Can Increase your Revenues

As a CMO in sports marketing, the Super Bowl can be seen as giant money and time suck for your company. As a student in graduate school at Northwestern University in the Medill IMC program, I have found two articles showing a few ways that you can leverage this event to increase revenues and make it worth your while.

The entire city of Houston, businesses and people, are spending more money during this time. The first article I found is called Super Bowl Billions: The Big Business Behind the Game of theYear discussed the three main ways any company or person will spend their money during this time. The first way is the spending in and around the game in Houston. The Super Bowl is expected to bring in $350 million for the city itself as people buy hotels, other entertainment, and food and beverages. Second, is the at home viewers who spend money party prepping. In the article, they say beer sales alone can approach $600 million. The last example of spending, of course, is the companies who spend millions on advertising during and around the big game. A 5 second spot during the Super Bowl will cost a company 5 million. Not to mention the investment they put in to create the commercial.

The second article I found is called NRFSays Consumers will Spend $14.1 Billion on 2017 Super Bowl and was actually a press release put out by the National Retail Federation focusing on how much and on what consumers will spend their money. The top type of items people spend their money on is food and beverages. 80% of viewers said they would be purchasing food and beverages. Although the amount of money people are spending on these items is down from last year, it is estimated that they will still spend $75 each on average totaling about $14.1 billion. NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay points out that now that the holidays have passed the Super Bowl is the next big event for families and friends to get together. The article also discusses that the commercials are the second most cited reason that people watch the game. 78% of viewers said they usually watch the commercials for entertainment.

Based on my review of these two articles and relevant studies I have done at Northwestern University, I have developed 3 ways the companies could see increased revenues surrounding the Super Bowl.

• Increased Sales for Party Prep - The Super Bowl means party time so celebrate with them. 

• High Revenues in City – The biggest party is thrown in the host city and you want to be invited.

• Advertising has some Impact – For some brands, a commercial is worth it but others should skip the big spend and celebrate in other ways.

As you prepare for the Super Bowl next year, think about how these 3 action items can help you leverage this time to your advantage and see increase revenues.  

Elle Bausch is a student at Northwestern University in the Medill IMC graduate program. In May 2016, she graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia journalism school. Throughout her studies, Elle interned for the PR department of the Mall of America as well as the PR department of the Minnesota Vikings. She will graduate Northwestern in December 2017.