retail

Report: Super Bowl Parties May Hit New Record

Super Bowl on TV A new survey from the National Retail Federation predicts that come Feb. 6, Super Bowl partiers will spend $10.1 billion, with 171 million planning on watching the game -- the most in the survey's history. Of those, 34.9 million -- or 15% of viewers -- plan to host their own parties, an increase from last year's 31.6 million. And 61.2 million, or 26.3%, plan to attend a game party, up from 58.8 million last year.

While the survey was fielded before the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers had earned their tickets to Dallas, it shows Americans are willing to spend more on the big day than they were a year ago. The survey, conducted by the NRF's Retail Advertising and Marketing Association with BIGresearch, finds that the average consumer plans to spend $59.33 on game-related merchandise, apparel and snacks, up from $52.63 last year.

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And that's not just on guacamole (although Americans are expected to eat about 80 million pounds of it on Game Day): Some 4.5 million say they will buy a new TV for the event, compared with 3.6 million who said they would last year, and the 2.7 million who said they would in 2009. And Best Buy says it is offering its best deals of the year, marking as much as $1,400 off some of its higher-end Sony sets. (Target, Walmart and Sears are also pushing big-screens for big savings on their websites.)

Still, less than half of those who will view the game -- 47% -- think football is the most important part, with 26% admitting they like the commercials best, 20% conceding it's just a nice excuse to socialize, and 8% showing up for the halftime show, reports NRF.

As the big day gets closer, marketers are piling on the press releases. Chevrolet will give the game's MVP, determined by a media panel and fan vote, a 2011 Camaro Convertible. General Motors' OnStar will direct traffic. And Wingstops hopes to sell a record-breaking 5 million wings.

While Pittsburgh people are frantically stocking up on everything from more terrible towels to yellow-and-black plaid fedoras, and those Green Bay fans never tire of buying cheesehead hats, Avvo, a company that rates doctors, reports that things are bad in Philadelphia, earning it the title of America's unhappiest pro football city.

The company evaluated all 14 of the NFL cities that have never been to the Super Bowl, ranking them on such factors as psychiatrists per capita, unemployment rate, heavy drinking, adults with hypertension, and average commuting time to and from work. After Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston and San Diego came in next in the sadsack derby.

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