Fewer Super Bowl parties could mean $3 billion dip in spending

The nation’s leading retail trade group is expecting a $3 billion dip in food and other sales this year related to television viewing of the Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

The pandemic has hampered the usual Super Bowl party plans, with just 25 percent of viewers saying they’d either throw or attend a party for Super Bowl 55. That’s the lowest percentage National Retail Federation has ever reported since it began the Super Bowl spending survey more than a decade ago.

As result, spending related to Super Bowl viewing is expected to total $13.9 billion, down $3.3 billion compared to last year, according to the retail federation.

Viewers are expected to spend an average of about $14 less on items compared to last year’s game, according to the trade group’s survey of nearly 8,000 people. The bulk of that money — 77 percent — will be spent on food and snacks. The next largest segment of spending is expected to be on game or team merchandise, which comes in at 11 percent, according to the trade association.

“This year’s Super Bowl is unique,” Scott Shalley, the president and CEO of the trade group’s Florida chapter said in a statement. “Not only is the Super Bowl in Florida for the second year in a row, but one of Florida’s very own football teams is playing.”

Shalley encourages Floridians to buy the items they need to watch the game from Florida stores or sellers.

About 86 percent of those surveyed said they planned to spend money related to watching the game. Just 3 percent said they planned to watch the game at a bar or restaurant, an obvious indication of how much the pandemic has changed viewers plans this year.

The federations estimates 186 million adults will be viewing the game on TV this Sunday.