13 Mind-Blowing Financial Facts About the Super Bowl

If you are trying to build wealth, buying a ticket to the Super Bowl is likely to hit you as a major setback. Admission to the big game can cost a sweet penny.

High ticket prices aren't the only major money issue associated with the National Football League's championship game. 

Here are 13 financial facts about the Super Bowl that may blow your mind.

A ticket to the big game will cost you thousands of dollars. In fact, you may be surprised by just how pricey admission can get.

Many seats right now are selling for more than $6,000, according to a New York Post report. VividSeats has tickets with an asking price of more than $20,000.

The price for just about everything has gone up exponentially since the 1960s. That includes tickets for the Super Bowl.

Fans scored tickets for as little as $6 for the first Super Bowl in 1967. In case you are wondering, that's about $57 in today's dollars.

If you're a Los Angeles Rams fan, there's a good chance you like snacks and other goodies. In fact, Rams fans spend nearly $200 in concessions at a single game, according to FinanceBuzz research.

Rams backers spend an average of $176.17 at a single game, far more than the league-wide average of $102.90.

If you don't like to watch the Super Bowl for the game, perhaps you still enjoy the ads. They're usually admired as some of the best commercials of the year.

The companies behind those great ads pay big bucks to be in front of a massive audience. Each 30-second ad for this year's game reportedly costs $7 million.

In 2024, an estimated $23.1 billion was bet on the Super Bowl, according to the American Gaming Association.

In fact, it's not unusual to see individual million-dollar bets when it comes to the Super Bowl.

Add in a lot of other bets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and it's easy to see why billions are at stake when it comes to Super Bowl wagers.

Speaking of big bucks, fans spend plenty of money to tackle their hunger during the Super Bowl. Beer and chicken wings are on the menus of many fans, whether they're eating at home or heading to a restaurant.

Some estimates have suggested that fans consume more than $1 billion worth of chicken wings on the day of the Super Bowl.

While they may not be near the prices for Super Bowl admission, regular season tickets for the Las Vegas Raiders average around $517.03 for home games, according to FinanceBuzz research.

That is the most expensive ticket cost in the NFL, more than double the league average of $253.

If you're a football fan in America, you're definitely not alone: It's big business.

The NFL teams generated an estimated $20.5 billion in revenue in 2023. That's 72% higher than what the No. 2 league — Major League Baseball — brought in. Massive TV viewership is a big reason why the NFL is such big business.

The cost of going to an NFL game has gone up an average of $43 since 2013, according to FinanceBuzz research. That amounts to a 39% increase.

The average cost to attend home games for three teams — the Las Vegas Raiders, the Cleveland Browns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — has risen by at least 85% since 2013, the highest in the NFL.

You might think appearing at the Super Bowl halftime show would pay a lot of money. In fact, performers aren't paid a penny for their appearances.

Expenses and production costs are covered. However, the big exposure usually leads to spikes in music sales for the artist who performs. That is likely why these singers perform for nothing.

Making it to the Super Bowl comes with a big payday. The big game is worth $171,000 for each player on the winning team and $96,000 for the losing team.

A player can earn a maximum of $357,000 during the playoffs. However, that is still a pittance compared to what the top players earn.

For example, Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys reportedly earns an annual salary of $60 million and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals rakes in $55 million a year.

You could call the Monday after the big game Super Bowl Monday — or Super Sick Monday.

Millions of fans take off work the day after the big game to recover. In 2023, nearly 18.8 million employees said they planned on missing work on that Monday. Millions more planned to go into work late.

You might think being a host city for the Super Bowl would be a huge win. It's true that the big game generates a lot of money for local businesses and other aspects of a city's economy.

But those cities also face extra expenses for things like security measures, emergency services, and even infrastructure, such as constructing and maintaining the stadium that hosts the game.

Some critics have argued that cities don't see as much of a return-on-investment as is sometimes suggested.

The Super Bowl brings in big bucks for the NFL, players, teams, and restaurants. The big game might also test your financial fitness if you plan to attend as a fan, bet any money on the outcome, or host a party.

Whether you're looking forward to the game, the ads, or just partying the night away, now is the time to start preparing your Super Bowl budget.