Super Bowl Primer 2024: A Look at the Business Side of the Biggest Weekend in American Sports

February 9, 2024

Each week, we sift through a ton of content and then debate it ad nauseam at FEVO HQ. And since good content, like the mind, is a terrible thing to waste, we are also sharing it here with you, our fans, in the form of this weekly blog post on e-commerce, media and life on the internet. This week, we’re taking a closer look at the massive cottage economy that sprouted up around Super Bowl LVIII — the first ever edition of the game to be held in Las Vegas.

Front Office Sports: The NFL is “just scratching the surface” with SpongeBob Super Bowl broadcast

Perhaps surprisingly, this year marked the first ever “alternate” telecast of the Super Bowl, with CBS and Nickelodeon teaming up to create an “augmented-reality-filled production” catering to children. The league was looking to target specific viewers (in this case, kids) in the same place where they normally consume their favorite content (in this case, Nickelodeon). These kid-focused broadcasts have happened in the past for non-Super Bowl games, and have proved successful at courting a new audience. With early report's suggesting yesterday's crossover broadcast was a similar success, will we begin seeing multiple alternate productions for big games across entire families of networks? A few years from now, could we have a special Housewives broadcast on Bravo? A gritty, docu-style broadcast on HBO? Rob Dyrdek and Chanel West Coast announcing the game for MTV?

Bloomberg: Once a sports desert, Las Vegas bets big on luring pro leagues

Las Vegas’s entry into pro sports has thus far followed an aggressive “if you build it, they will come” doctrine, and it’s been paying off big time. For decades the Big Four sports leagues avoided the city like a cold craps table due to its association with betting, but now, with sports gambling available in a majority of states and fully embraced by the respective leagues, the sports world is changing its tune. The city has invested over $7B in recent years to support an NFL, NHL and soon-to-come MLB franchise, not to mention a WNBA team, F1 race and plenty of fighting sports. Read on to see how the city has transformed itself into a growing, global sports mecca.

NYT: What may be the priciest Super Bowl ever

If you’re looking to dive into the dizzying economics of a Vegas Super Bowl, the Times has you covered. According to this piece, estimates for a Super Bowl Weekend in Sin City ran folks about $10K all in for the most affordable experience. Meanwhile, celebs and high rollers also flocked in from everywhere, to the degree that there were no more private plane parking spots available. (That said, due to demand, plenty of airlines added additional flights to Vegas.) On top of that, cabs, hotel rooms and meals reached record prices. Vegas has always been a Super Bowl destination due to its sportsbooks — this is what happens when you throw in the actual game on top of that.