Big game spurs activity for bars, grocers and even TV retailers
The equipment has been readied, the game plans have been prepared and the players have been drilled to execute their assignments perfectly.
But the action they've prepped for won't take place between the hash marks on Super Bowl Sunday but behind the cash register.
Local merchants see the annual contest as a chance to improve their bottom lines.
Deb Krelow, co-owner with her husband, Greg, of The Beacon, 231 Beacon Road, Renfrew, expects business to double Sunday.
“I'm very excited even though the Steelers aren't in it,” said Krelow.
She said The Beacon opens at noon on Sunday, and she is planning a pool tournament to begin at 3 p.m. Then at 6 p.m., a half-hour before the scheduled 6:30 p.m. kickoff of the game between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., The Beacon will begin beer specials and the “all-the- wings-and-fries-you-can- eat” promotion.
“We might have a pickup truck on the outdoor patio and call it a tailgate party,” she said.
“It definitely increases business whether the hometown team is in it or not,” she said. “I don't think people realize how much that affects the local businesses.”
She expects the football game Sunday to double her Sunday crowd to 60 customers and increase food and drink sales 20 percent.
Keith Dawson, manager of the Craft House bar/restaurant at the Days Inn, 139 Pittsburgh Road, also expects a large Super Bowl crowd.
“We get pretty crushed for all the Steeler games,” Dawson said, adding he expects 100 to 150 people “easily” to come for the Super Bowl, especially when the drink and food specials and prize giveaways kick in at 6 p.m.
“We're adding extra kitchen help, bartenders and wait staff,” Dawson said.He added the crowds might be bolstered by the fact that the Craft House went to an all-ages policy six months ago which means its open to minors accompanied by a parent or guardian.Dawson is hoping the Broncos and the Panthers are locked in a closely contested struggle.“If it's a close game, people are more into it and they'll be sticking around. If it's a blow-out thing, they will leave, ” Dawson said.But Krelow said once the customers are inside, “it doesn't matter if it's a close game or a blowout. If it's a blowout, they just won't care. They'll turn their backs to the TV. If it's a close game the excitement stays the same, no matter who is playing.”Asked for the most memorable Super Bowls, Dawson said it was “probably the last couple of Steeler Super Bowls.”Krelow said after 25 years the games all start to blend together, but the memorable one for her was Super Bowl XXV between the Giants and the Bills at Tampa Stadium on Jan. 27, 1991.“I was living in Tampa when the Super Bowl was there,” she said. “Because of Desert Storm (the ground offensive in the First Persian Gulf War that started Jan. 17) all the extra parties that year were canceled.”And while the game is played with a ball still called a pigskin, customers would rather stock up on chipped ham and pulled pork, said Cathy Loughran, the deli director for McGinnis Sisters, 700 Adams Shoppes, Adams Township.“What I have is people inquiring about our baked chicken and our pulled pork, ” Loughran said.Loughran said orders have increased for the specialty food store's mini-sandwich trays and buffalo chicken dip and “of course, the McGinnis Sisters' grandmother Rosella's potato and macaroni salad.”Although she said it was too soon to say how much Super Bowl traffic would increase business, Loughran added, “People will come in and buy salads and sliced and chopped lunch meat to put their own spreads together before the game.”
There's been an increased demand for chipped ham, according to Sarah Blair, a deli worker at County Market, 49 Pine Grove Square, Grove City.“We're doing one of our biggest events of the year, a Super Bowl Madness sale, Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” said the supermarket's co-owner David Knopp Jr. He said the supermarket's sale covers 70 items essential for Super Bowl parties.“We're anticipating a massive spike in sales,” Knopp said.“Super Bowl is a pretty big deal for us,” agreed Dean Weiland, director for operations for Freidman's Freshmarkets which owns supermarkets in Butler, Saxonburg and Chicora. “It's a much bigger weekend increase than usual, at least 10 percent.”Weiland said the supermarkets' deli departments see higher demand for pizzas, meats and cheeses, meat-and-cheese trays, vegetable trays.And a few big-ticket items may be purchased before the big game.Dave Parker, owner of Parker's Appliance & TV, 528 N. Main St., Chicora, said he can always count on the Super Bowl to increase sales.“Typically, we see an increase in TV sales,” said Parker.“The Super Bowl puts people over the edge. If they were on the bubble about buying a new television, they will step up and buy it now,” Parker said.
Here are five fiscal facts to know about Super Bowl 50 between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers.The Super Bowl bonuses paid to the players on the winning team will top $100,000 for the first time this year. The winning players will be paid $102,000 compared to the $15,000 paid to the members of the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I. Losing team players will be paid $51,000 apiece.Commercials have become as much a part of Super Bowl Sunday as the game itself. This year a 30-second spot was going for $5 million. For a 30-second spot in Super Bowl I companies spent $42,000.The escalation in the cost of a ticket to the big game has been bullish to say the least. The price of Super Bowl 50 tickets range from $850 to $3,000. Scalped tickets were averaging $5,000 in price. For Super Bowl I in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, the tickets ranged from $6 to $12.Denver quarterback Peyton Manning had a base salary of $19 million this season, but earned a $2 million bonus for winning the AFC Championship and could earn another $2 million with a Super Bowl win.According to the Hass Avocado Board, Americans are expected to consume more than 139 million pounds of avocados on Super Bowl Sunday. At $3 a pound, that means that more than $400 million will be spent on avocados.— KPIX San Francisco
