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Few things are as eagerly awaited as the quintessential sporting spectacle that every year sets the trends in February. The Super Bowl captures the attention of hundreds of fans, whether they are fanatics or not, either for the sports show or the halftime show, and this year was no exception, but how has technology changed this, and what role does IT play in the sports world?
Let’s find out together in this short entry
About the Super Bowl and its origins
The 57th edition of the most anticipated sporting event of the year featured the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, but what is the story behind this great event?
Also known as Super Bowl in Spanish, the Super Bowl is the name given to the National Football League (NFL) final, where the champions of the American and National leagues face each other to define the absolute champion of the season. Its origins date back to 1967′, to January 15, to be more exact, in a game where the Wisconsin Green Bay Packers defeated the Chiefs with a final score of 35-10.
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However, this first meeting became known as the “AFL-NFL championship game”. This was the case until 1970, when the two merged to establish the NFL and the two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). When the event would be renamed thanks to sports promoter Lamar Hunt. 
Traditionally, in the United States and Canada, a single game that pits two teams against each other for the title of a championship is called a “Bowl”because of the similarity of the stadiums in which it is played to a bowl. Lamar Hunt wanted to differentiate this event from the rest of the existing tournaments, and inspired by his sons who played with a ball called Super Ball, he began to name the event Super Bowl, the rest is history.
Shocking and interesting figures
Before we go on and talk about the 57th edition, why don’t we review some interesting figures that will surely give a better perspective of the importance and relevance of this great event.
- 114.4 million, is the record number of viewers that the Super Bowl had, during the 2015 edition.
- The 2022 edition had 99.1 million viewers. Since 2006, each edition has had at least 90 million viewers.
- US$485 million was spent on advertising for the 2021 edition, a record for that time.
- 6.5 million dollars was the average cost of a television advertising space for the LVI edition.
- 180 million dollars were staked on the state of Nevada during the 2022 edition.
- 63,400 is the capacity of Glendale Stadium in Arizona, which hosted the LVII edition, one of the smallest stadiums in the NFL.
- 103,985 is the record number of spectators at a Super Bowl so far, set in 1980 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in California during the final between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams.
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- 157 thousand dollars as prize money for the players of the winning team.
- 82 thousand dollars for each of the members of the losing team.
- 85, 3 dollars is estimated as the average expenditure per consumer in the last 57′ edition. Eighty percent is projected to be spent on food and beverages.
- 139 million pounds of avocado were consumed in 2022 edition
- 50 million cans and bottles of beer sold in the U.S. during Super Bowl week
LVII Edition
The LVII edition of the Super Bowl pitted the Philadelphia Eagles from the national league against the Kansas City Chiefs from the American confederation. Teams that led during this season for various reasons: The Eagles achieved their best numbers in the entire NFL with 14-5 and the Chiefs had the MVP of the campaign, Patrick Mahonmes.
It was held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, being the third time that this stadium hosted such event, after the games in which the Giants won in 2008 and the Patriots won in 2015. The cheapest tickets to watch the game were around $5,368 dollars, while the most expensive tickets were around $41,400 dollars.
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Technology and sports make an incredible synergy, in recent years we have seen how in the field of soccer the VAR has cleared many doubts about what happened on the field, but in the NFL every year takes an unparalleled prominence. This year could not be different, the State Farm Stadium, is a stadium with a retractable dome in 2008 and this year was equipped with new innovations.
Its regular capacity is 63,400 spectators, although it can further expand its seating capacity to 73,000. Its retractable dome makes it perfect for dealing with adverse weather conditions. It also has a grass canopy that can be removed and repositioned in minutes, giving it the versatility to host sporting events and even concerts.
Technology in the game
We started with the impressive giant screen that served to follow the action and have a scoreboard to consult on its 3.5 million pixels.
WiFi is another key point. Nowadays, being a fan or spectator goes far beyond just watching the game, we love to keep our social media feed updated, give our opinion, and follow what is happening and connect with other fans, the State Farm has a powerful infrastructure with WiFi network from which everyone can connect to navigate from their devices.
These two concepts were combined during the game, since during some time-outs a QR code was placed on the board, and when scanned, a selfie camera could be taken and sent to a console to be projected to the entire stadium.
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But this was not the only technology that was present, Amazon made available to the public the Expected Retur Yards, a visualization powered by AI, with which it tries to make an estimate of how many yards it is possible for a team to advance after each play.
Streaming
As is customary in the sports world, television broadcasting competes with streaming broadcasts and on this occasion some of the platforms that carried out the coverage of the event were:
Amazon Prime | Star +| Fox Sports Premium | Vix | NFL Network and the official app of the NFL
WhatsApp for the Super Bowl?
As it is one of the events that generates the most meetings, the popular social network was present to make decisions in a fluid and democratic way, thanks to its survey function, streamlining the organization of meetings.
Digital content
Since the previous edition, the use of tokens and NFTs is present in the game, in addition to the official app with exclusive content, behind the scenes, sweepstakes and unique augmented reality features.
The role of data in the field
Similarly, the use of active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on the shoulder pads of all players and referees was vital to maintain information on their movements at all times, while their implementation on the ball allows measuring rotation, speed, distance and routes followed throughout the game.
This data collection makes the game more interesting by allowing both teams to refine strategies, while spectators AIs allow predictive simulations, something especially useful for those who like to bet, although of course as in all sports the results can change unexpectedly as on this occasion, where the EA Sports game Madden NFL 23 with the help of AI, gave Philadelphia as the winner.
Let’s remember that this tradition began when the XLIX edition of the Super Bowl between the Seahawks and the Patriots went tremendously viral by predicting the exact score of the game. Likewise, this system was implemented with the FIFA 23 game where it successfully predicted Argentina as the soccer World Cup champion.
APIs & Cloud in the game
Financial technology continues to set the pace, and the integration of APIs are the secret behind the points of sale that allow contactless payment for attendees at the game venue. On the other hand, they also nurture the super-apps and delivery apps that were another big favorite for fans at home avoiding leaving the comfort of home to order drinks, food and snacks.
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Cloud technology, for its part, covers various aspects, from offering extra storage to attendees to save the best moments, allowing the storage of statistics for later analysis of the game, to serving to nurture the big data of sponsors and strengthen their data-based strategy, after all, the spaces in the Super Bowl are the most expensive advertising and you have to know how to take advantage of it.
The metaverse
Despite having some setbacks, the metaverse does not cease to be present in different areas of life and this occasion could not be different, the NFL’s bet on Roblox has been around for several years, but it is still innovation, and its bet was on a virtual concert by Saweetie on Friday, February 10, a performance that was broadcast every hour until Sunday, February 12, the day of the final.
This is part of a strategy to rejuvenate the NFL audience, the platform posted a 41% increase in users between 17 and 24 years old, so it seems to be the most appropriate strategy to capture new audiences.
Apple Music & Rihanna
The halftime show, although in its beginnings there was no halftime show as such, the initiative of inviting bigger and bigger artists that started in the 70’s, gave way to the first great halftime show in 1993, and since then the expectation around this show is such that brings together sports fans with the curious or fans of the artist in charge of the show with the purpose of enjoying this “pause”.
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This year Apple replaced Pepsi as the official sponsor and did it hand in hand with one of the most famous and media artists of this century Rihanna, who had already rejected the opportunity to perform at halftime for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, given the fines to players who knelt during the American anthem, however, vindicating herself in the final where two African-American quarterbacks will face each other.
But what is striking is the gain in the field of technology, being the main sponsor the streaming platform Apple Music, which also made available the catalog of songs of the superstar with spatial audio and Dolby Atmos and relive the greatest hits of his long career, which merge pop, rap, R & B and electronic music.
The trends
Being an event of great magnitude and with so much commercial activity, it is normal to pay attention to the products most consumed by fans, and these are some of the things most consumed during the event: 1.45 billion chicken wings, 85-inch televisions in the United States, under the slogan “Big TVs for the big event” the Super Bowl helps to promote the sale of large screens.
Meanwhile in Mexico, the Mexican Association of Online Sales (AMVO), in 2022, recorded that 53% of consumers show interest in the Super Bowl, seven out of 10 respondents said they would probably make an online purchase before or during the game, while 38% said they would order food through delivery apps.
Among the favorite foods to accompany the event are in the following categories: snacks such as chips, peanuts and nachos with 72%, alcoholic beverages with 52%, as well as proteins and vegetables with 47%.
In this regard, the Chamber of Commerce, Services and Small Tourism of Mexico City (Canacope), reported that in 2020, consumption related to the Super Bowl, generated an economic spill of 740 million pesos in products classified as “fast food“. A family, on average, invests around $600 MXN in drinks and food, an expense that can increase to $1,000 MXN if it is a meeting with several people.
Digital conversation
Another point of great importance is the digital conversation that year after year arises before, during and after this great final, which ends up trending on all social networks, whether for the plays, mistakes, results or the halftime show. The consulting firm Talkwalker, in the last edition, measured more than 47,000 mentions and 319 interactions related to this sporting event in Mexico alone.
Brands are aware of this, so they are active participants, taking full advantage of the event’s boom to generate related content, along with offers and promotions. After all, Mexico is the country with the highest demand for Super Bowl tickets after the United States, spending an estimated $3 million dollars on lodging reservations alone.
Other data and curiosities
The truth is that an event like this, gives for much more conversation as the tradition of tailgating, the costs of the trophy, the value in jewelry in the championship rings, the fact that the 57′ edition was the first to confront two African-American quarterbacks, the myths and superstitions surrounding these games, but the truth is that this would take too long.
So before closing and giving away some more interesting data, I would like to recap on a key fact, digital transformation is also part of the game, from the most fundamental aspects such as game statistics, to design strategies, make forecasts, place bets, to the retail sector more removed from the main focus, which can take advantage of data analytics strategies to find growth opportunities.
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And if we learned anything from this final, it is that it is not only about having the right information, to win the game you have to take advantage of every possible opportunity, no matter how small it may be, and not be confident that you have already won just because you have an advantage over the competition, because the frenetic changes of high demand can turn an oversight into a costly mistake.
Remember that you can use our Data Maturity test to find out how prepared your organization or business is in data issues and the steps to follow to continue improving your data driven strategy, in addition to having the support of our certified experts to advise your investment in data infrastructure to get the best performance with the most efficient and intuitive tools, now I leave you with other data of interest:
- 216 the number of footballs used by the NFL during Super Bowl week between the game and practice.
- 232 the approximate number of countries and 34 the estimated number of languages in the current diffusion of the event.
- Approximately $400 million is the impact of the city hosting the Super Bowl.
- 20 million people in the United States are estimated to attend a Super Bowl-related party.
- 5% of U.S. viewers watch the event alone.
- 11 times New England Patriots reached the big event, being the team that has played the most games in this event.
- 6 wins in the Super Bowl, accumulated by the most successful teams: New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers.
- 45 the largest point differential in a Super Bowl final 55-10 from the San Francisco 49ers to the Denver Broncos in 1990.
- Best rating for a QB in game: Phil Simms with 150.92.
- No final has ever been attended by a U.S. president.
