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Recession Can't Sack Super Bowl Activities

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By TED JACKOVICS and SARAH HOYE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2008

Updated: 12/26/2008 12:33 am

TAMPA - Super Bowl tickets cost $6 to $12 in January 1967, compared with $500 to $1,000 today. Yet more than 30,000 tickets went unsold for the inaugural Super Bowl, when the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.

Since then, what was widely regarded as a postseason exhibition between the champions of the long-established National Football League and the upstart American Football League has evolved into the world's premier sports/entertainment event.

Unlike Super Bowl I, Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1 in Tampa is long sold out. The best seats were priced at four figures this year for the first time - recession or not.

Red carpets and velvet ropes, models in designer threads and blinged-out celebrities, chauffeur-driven Bentleys and Maybachs - all will be part of Tampa's Super Bowl scene.

But even today's Super Bowl is not recession proof, NFL officials say.

"We do anticipate seeing the effects of the economic crisis to some extent," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. "Nothing is immune, including the Super Bowl and the National Football League."

The Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee recently lowered its funding goal from private sources from $8 million to $7 million to stage the event, and was about 5 percent short of that goal the week before Christmas.

The NFL will spend $40 million-plus for Super Bowl expenses. But even the nation's most successful sports league said this month that it will reduce its staff by 150 employees after the Super Bowl.

Parties Trimmed, Canceled

Some customary big-name celebrations won't occur. Sports Illustrated won't hold its customary annual party. General Motors won't bring company officials to business meetings at the game site at a time when it is seeking billions of dollars in a government bailout.

The invitation-only NFL party for sponsors and team officials in Orlando the night before the game will be a little smaller than usual, although as many as 4,000 will attend. But there won't be fireworks as originally planned.

Sponsors will send fewer people to town, and that's expected, McCarthy said.

That doesn't mean they are giving up their tickets. It means that rather than paying for travel costs for employees or guests from out of town, a corporate sponsor might make more tickets available to preferred employees or clients who live closer to Tampa.

"There's no question the economy has slowed down the decision-making process on the part of potential sponsors," said Reid Sigmon, executive director of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host committee, which lists 30 sponsors and partners on its Web site.

The local committee will fulfill its Super Bowl bid promises by tweaking its budget, like most businesses these days. State and county visitor-industry sources provide an additional $4 million for a total of $11 million, including the $7 million the local committee raised.

Another sign that the recession is taking a toll is that the high-end asking prices for Super Bowl tickets through online brokers is less this year than last, some outlets report.

The most expensive Super Bowl ticket offered on RazorGator.com for the 2008 game was $9,850, compared with $8,000 for the 2009 game, said Scott Roback, vice president of business development for the Los Angeles-based broker.

The average price of tickets so far is $4,100 this year compared with $3,800 at game time, but prices generally decline, Roback said.

Impact Still Undetermined

Just how the impact of the recession might affect local hotels, restaurants and merchants remains won't be known until the week of the game, local officials say.

The game will draw more than 70,000 fans to Raymond James Stadium, where an extra 6,000 seats will be added for the Super Bowl.

In addition, 30,000 or so people with neither a ticket nor plans to buy one, are expected to descend on Tampa to soak up the atmosphere and have fun.

Just how many will travel to Tampa will depend on who's playing. Some teams such as the New York Giants, who have appeared in the past two Super Bowls in Tampa, "travel well," meaning plenty of fans follow the team.

"Even in 1991 when operation Desert Storm was going on, the Super Bowl in Tampa drew strong attendance," said Steve Hayes, executive vice president of Tampa Bay and Co., which markets the tourism industry for Hillsborough County.

"I think people still come to the game for the event that it is. What is really important to us are the fans who come down who may not be going to the game."

Those are the ones who provide an additional financial boost to the area. While it's the beginning of the peak visitors season, hoteliers can get top rates during the Super Bowl. With discretionary and business travel in a recessionary slump, this year is a good one to have the event in town, local officials agree.

Last year's Super Bowl generated $218 million in direct spending by visitors to Arizona for the game, an Arizona State University business college report found. Visitors spent an average of $617 a day on lodging, food, recreation and other items, not including tickets.

Accounting for inflation, ticket prices of $6 to $12 in 1967 amount to $38 to $76 today, far less than the $500 to $1,000 game tickets today.

But other events can be costly, too. Middleweight boxer Winky Wright of St. Petersburg will co-host a series of events and parties, dubbed "The Good Life Experience," with music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and former NFL player Deion Sanders in Clearwater. Tickets range from $200 to $1,000.

A portion of the "Good Life" proceeds will benefit the newly formed Winky Wright Foundation, plus breast cancer research in honor of the boxer's cousin who lost her battle with the disease in September.

Also, Tampa boxer Antonio Tarver will co-host the two-day party "Under The Veil" at the Tampa Museum of Science & Industry, alongside rapper Nelly, music executive Jermaine Dupri and the Bucs' Aqib Talib. Tickets are $300 or $600 for VIP, and only $100 for the ladies.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.

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