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Good Thursday Morning. Here’s the rundown of this week’s special Super Bowl edition of Sports Business Playbook:

• 📰 This Week’s Topic: We are recapping the business success of Super Bowl LVIII with 5 key metrics showing how it was the NFL’s biggest event ever. We are also keeping the victims of the shooting during the Chiefs’ celebratory parade yesterday and their families in our thoughts.

• 🤯 “Whoa of the Week”: The Kristin Juszczyk hype train keeps rolling

• 💪 Weekly Reminders that Sports are Awesome: My top 5 commercials from the Super Bowl

Hey team,

The 2023 NFL season is now in the books, with the Kansas City Chiefs repeating as champions following a thrilling overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas — 25-22.

The game on the field started slow but ultimately delivered. It featured six ties and lead changes in the final quarter/overtime, and it was just the second ever Super Bowl to go to OT.

It was almost one of the most technologically advanced Super Bowls, with broadcaster CBS using 165 cameras around Allegiant Stadium, including never-before-seen sideline cameras and six 4k “doink cams” in the uprights of both end zones.

Niners fans — I will spare you the analysis on Kyle Shanahan’s controversial decision to take the ball first under the new overtime rules.

Instead, let’s break down the business of the Super Bowl — the NFL’s biggest ever — through five key metrics.

123 million

The average audience size of this year’s game, beating the record set in last year’s Super Bowl (115.1 million) by 7%.

That’s over a third of the country tuning into one event, and CBS estimated that 202.4 million people (+ 10% YoY) watched all or part of the Super Bowl across its properties — CBS broadcast network, Paramount +, Nickelodeon, Univision.

The only event, sports or anything else, that is said to have drawn more viewers in TV history: the moon landing (estimated to be 125-150 million people).

Many insiders predicted this year would set a record in viewership, but the sizable increase shows the strength of the matchup, the Taylor Swift effect (more on that later), and the cultural catbird seat the NFL has in the U.S.

P.S. — if you didn’t watch the Nickelodeon telecast, it was beautiful chaos. Examples here, here, and here.

$695 million

The total amount in advertising revenue generated by CBS.

30-second ads were going for a record $7 million per spot, and CBS was sold out of almost all inventory by the end of October.

NFL script conspiracy theorists — you’ll be pleased to know the NFL money machine also benefitted from the overtime.

The networks always have contingency plans in place for OT, selling discounted ad inventory that is agreed upon in advance. Even with these discounts, the extra period still generated an additional $60 million for the network, per Sportico.

Below is a fun infographic showing which industries have bought Super Bowl ads over the years.

54 seconds

Taylor Swift’s time on screen during the game, per an ultra dedicated Reddit user who used a stopwatch to time her appearances.

This number is just 0.36% of the total airing time (4 hours, 8 minutes), and it’s hard to think of someone who can do more for the NFL with one minute of airtime.

Regardless of one’s perspective on her music, Taylor Swift’s pull is undeniable.

According to Sports Media Watch:

• Female viewership ages 12-17 for the Super Bowl was up 11%

• Ages 18-24 was up 24%.

Her consistent presence at Chiefs games this season is already having a positive impact on engaging new audiences, and it could lead to longer term benefits for the league.

67.8 million

The estimated number of people in the U.S. who bet on this year’s game, per the American Gaming Association. That’s 26% of the U.S. adult population and up 35% over last year.

The expected handle from the game: $23.1 billion (225% YoY).

While some of these are more informal and/or illegal wagers, these figures show the continued growth of the U.S. sports betting market.

550%

The increase in Usher’s Spotify streams following his Super Bowl halftime performance.

Usher took anyone who grew up in the 90’s and 2000’s back to middle school dances, proms, and the club with an iconic set that spanned years of his hit-laden catalog.

In short, the elder millennials like me were thrilled!

Apparently other age groups, particularly GenZ/Gen Alpha, didn’t care much for it. And to that I say:

A number of articles were written in the weeks leading up to the game about how the Super Bowl halftime performer does not get paid for their show.

Why?

The NFL and Apple Music — the halftime show sponsor that already pays a cool $50 million per year for the rights to it — do not need to pay for talent to play the halftime show because the ROI for the artist via exposure is so great.

Exhibit A: an estimated 129 million watched Usher’s 15-minute performance at halftime, and Apex Marketing projects that he generated $52.5 million in exposure from his show.

Exhibit B: The impact will be felt in both streams as well as his live performances, as concert ticket prices for Usher’s upcoming tour are up 40%, and 38% of total tickets sold for the tour came after the Super Bowl, per TickPick.

Looking Ahead

This year’s Super Bowl exceeded expectations and continues to showcase the power of the NFL. Las Vegas was lauded for doing an excellent job hosting the event, and it solidified itself as a potential option for future Super Bowls.

One interesting tidbit that may cause some friction for that next bid, though. According to Front Office Sports, the billion-dollar casino operators did not get as many million-dollar “whales” at their tables as expected during Super Bowl Week, which led to a lower than expected gambling handle.

Why does this matter?

To secure a bid for the Super Bowl, a city’s host committee needs to raise several million dollars in public and private funding. Given Las Vegas’ comparatively small corporate base, they will need funding from the casinos to put together a competitive bid. If the casinos don’t see the value, it may create challenges for raising those funds next time around.

That’s a future problem, though.

This year’s Las Vegas Super Bowl week received high praise from the attendees and the NFL, and Vegas continues to show why it is ascending to the top of all major sports properties’ lists for marquee events.

And, believe it or not, preparations have already begun for next year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.

“The Big Easy” is set to host the game for a record 11th time in 2025, and kudos to the NFL for already giving it a local flare.

🤯 “Whoa” of the Week

Insane, mind-blowing things constantly happen in the sports business world. Here was my favorite of the past week.

1. The Kristin Juszczyk hype train keeps rolling. If you’re interested in learning more about her story, check out my piece from two weeks ago here.

💪 Weekly Reminder that Sports are Awesome

This newsletter is, of course, mostly centered on the business side of sports and the things that happen off the field. That being said, it’s important to remember why we fell in love with sports in the first place, though.

This section is meant to highlight the amazing things that happened in sports this week that serve as that reminder.

My subjective top 5 commercials from the Super Bowl. Shoot me a note if there were any you particularly enjoyed!

Number 5: Paramount+. Sir Patrick Stewart throwing “Hey Arnold” will never not make me laugh.

Number 4: The PlutoTV couch potato farms. Funny because it’s partially true

Number 3: Popeye’s new chicken wings. The doodle part got me.

Number 2: Etsy’s fun take on America’s gift back to France as a thank you for the Statue of Liberty.

Number 1: Obviously, Dunkin. Here’s the long version, which is even better. They also sold a select run of the "DunKings” tracksuits after the commercial aired, and they sold out in 20 minutes.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what feedback you have.

Also, if you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and network by clicking the social media icons at the top of the newsletter.

Until next time, sports fans!

-Alex