Super Bowl XLII – The Hidden Winners

Rather than highlight the obvious Super Bowl winners – the Giants, Eli Manning, the Fox network, Phoenix/Glendale, and losers – the Patriots, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, I thought I’d call out the more subtle victors and vanquished after Super Bowl XLII.  Among the winners are:  

• Local Fox affiliates.  Fox 25 in Boston was charging $250,000 for a 30-second spot, reportedly the largest single-price per ad in the local market.  In comparison, the cost of running an ad during a regular-season game is about $42,000.  Thirty-second regional packages including New York and smaller markets were running $350,000, according to industry media buyers. 

• Fourth quarter advertisers.  Since the Super Bowl is often a blowout, the fourth quarter generally means fewer viewers and slightly lower ad rates.  Among those advertisers getting their 4Q money’s worth on Sunday were Amp Energy, Victoria’s Secret, Hyundai and Coke, which aired two of the best ads of the day in the form of a Charlie Brown hot air balloon and the normally over-inflated Bill Frist and James Carville. 

• The FBR Open.  The Scottsdale PGA event set an all-time PGA attendance record of 538,356 visitors.  Revenue from the 154 skyboxes on the infamous 16th hole alone was $6.9 million (they averaged $45,000), meaning millions of additional dollars for local charities.

• The Jets.  The “other” New York team, along with stadium-mate Giants, is now positioned to see naming rights and PSL revenues for their under-construction stadium jump up a few notches.  Seat licenses at the new Cowboys’ stadium are going for $16,000-$150,000 – look for Jets/Giants to up that.

• Tom Condon.  Eli Manning’s contract agent never had it so good.  On to the NFL combine
  and the draft. 

• Wembley Stadium management.  If the San Diego Chargers win Super Bowl XLIII, it will be certain that Wembley is the NFL’s new lucky charm.  Regardless, the fact that the Wembley game in October ’07 produced the eventual Super Bowl winner should compound Euro interest in the October ’08 Chargers-Saints contest.

Super Bowl XLII – The Hidden Losers

And then there’s the losers:  

• Las Vegas.  February 3 may topple January 21, 1979, otherwise known as “Black Sunday” to Las Vegas sports books.  On that day, the underdog Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the defending champion Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII and cost the casinos millions in payouts.  Early reports from Nevada have Super Bowl XLII showing the worst Super Bowl losses by sports books ever, in terms of money-line bets on the Giants, the Patriots’ failing to beat the point spread, and first quarter over/under bets.

• Wall Street.  According to early reports, trading volume was 15-20 percent below the daily average on the New York Stock Exchange Monday morning, and at 10:00 a.m. (and $81.1 billion), was even as low as 34 percent below the 20-day average of $123.7 billion.  Look for this to continue on Tuesday, as New York traders skip out for the Giants’ victory parade. 

• Vin Gupta.  The Salesgenie.com CEO reportedly writes all of the company’s Super Bowl ads himself.  This year’s three 30-second spots cost the company probably $2.5 million each and $150,000 to produce.  What Mr. Gupta got for his $7,650,000 was a dead-last rating in USA Today’s Ad Meter, and internationally-televised snippets of racism and bigotry in his tasteless cartoons.

• Advertisers in general.  It’s not often that the game on the field overshadows much-anticipated Super Bowl ads, but that’s what happened on Sunday.  While there were a handful of winners (my favorite was FedEx’s giant pigeons), in general this year’s offerings fell flat.  With lower ad ratings among fans and with the U.S. economy headed into a recession, “flat” is likely where advertising rates will remain for Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.

• Gisele Bundchen.  Move over, Jessica.  The curse is now on Gisele.  Who can kiss those modeling contracts for NFL apparel good-bye. 

• The New York Yankees.  Sorry, Bronx Bombers.  You’re no longer the most popular kids on the block.  Better get used to it – at least until your new stadium opens in 2009.