SuperBowl: Friends, Food and of course Football

It's that Sunday of the year when all of America is in party mood no matter what's happening in the nation or around the world. Super Bowl is one event which had helped Americans forgot the gloomy news of 2001 dot-com bust, 2009 great recession and recently pandemic induced lockdowns. Over 100 million Americans would be tuned to TV with family and friends and enjoying the much deserved matchup - Colts vs Chiefs. This is also significant in terms of generational shift. It's first time when the baton of quarterbacks would be passed from likes of Tom Brady/Aaron Rodgers to young, energetic African-Americans - Jalen Hurts (Age 24) and Patrick Mahomes (Age: 27). Their styles, risk-taking attitudes and running should make this an exciting matchup. 

And when it comes to economic impact of Super Bowl - here are some numbers:

• Boost to local economy of host city Phoenix is going to be around $600-700M
• 325 million gallons of beer would be consumed on Super Bowl day - that's almost 3 gallons of beer by everyone watching the Super Bowl - no wonder Beer companies spend so much on Super Bowl ads and they are always so interesting
• 30 seconds spot to advertise is going to cost $7M. It used to be below $3M just 15 years back
• $16 Billion of betting would happen on everything from color of outfit Rihanna is going to wear during Halftime show to how long National Anthem is going to take (over or under 2 min and 7 seconds) - not to mention numerous combinations of game statistics!
• Tons of pizza, chicken wings, chips and salsa would be consumed

But most importantly this is an occasion when friends can get together and just have a good time. As tradition, we are going to meet and enjoy the game, halftime show and equivalent of "Chai and everything else pe Churcha"

And how can one not mention completely un-scientific Super Bowl Indicator: if "NFC" team wins Super Bowl, markets would be up (70% accuracy) - except it has been wrong when it comes to recent wins by these two teams

- Colts (NFC team) won in 2018 and markets were down by 6%

- Chiefs (AFC team) won in 2020 and markets were up by 16%

So Super Bowl predictor has been wrong in recent years. Personally I am hoping that Mahomes is back from his leg injury and plays to his full abilities and game becomes as interesting as FIFA Soccer World Cup final. 

Enjoy the Super Bowl Afternoon with Friends, Food and great Football!

/Shyam