Yesterday concluded another glorious season of football, and now the reality of having to wait another six months for pre-season games to begin is starting to settle in.
Yesterday also represented the mecca of all spending days for some of America's top-branded businesses. Super Bowl has become, in and of itself, a mini-Christmas for U.S. businesses. It pays to note where consumers are dropping their dollars when the big game rolls around.
With that in mind, I set out to combine two of my favorite things -- football and the stock market -- and compile a list of 10 fun facts about the Super Bowl. Then, I'll look at how these facts could translate into bottom-line profits for companies that could in turn make you money.
1. The average 30-second Super Bowl ad cost $3.5 million.
One day doesn't make a year, but Super Bowl Sunday certainly put something on the order of $250 million into Comcast's coffers. Comcast, which owns NBC, raked in the highest per-ad rate in Super Bowl history.
2. An estimated $10 billion was wagered on the Super Bowl this year.
It really was Christmas in Las Vegas yesterday -- this was the most-gambled-on Super Bowl event ever. Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN ) , which just last week reported a 7% increase in year-over-year gambling sales in Las Vegas, could carry this Super Bowl momentum forward.
3. 1.25 billion chicken wings were consumed this weekend.
There was no balking this weekend -- chicken producers like Sanderson Farms love the Super Bowl for the bump in chicken sales. Unfortunately for Sanderson, rising material costs are crushing its margins. I guess the Super Bowl came just in time!
4. An estimated 49.3 million cases of beer were sold yesterday.
Does this one really need any explanation? The company to watch here is Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP ) , whose Coors Light recently surpassed Anheuser-Busch InBev's Budweiser to become the No. 2 most sold beer in the U.S., behind Bud Light. Could the King of Beers be losing its grip in the United States?�
5. Pizza Hut, Papa John's, and Domino's combined to sell roughly 4 million pizzas yesterday.
The compelling play here still remains Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ ) . Even taking its huge run-up into account, CEO Patrick Doyle has done a masterful job of making his company transparent and reinforcing an image of quality with his brand. There is a reason he was my No. 2 choice for Best CEO of 2011.
6. 2012 was the first year the Super Bowl was streamed live to mobile devices.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ ) had the exclusive rights with the NFL in 2012 to stream live coverage from the Super Bowl. Users only had to download an NFL app to watch the game, but Verizon did throw in a $10 monthly streaming fee for those with 3G who chose to stream the game from their Verizon phones.
7. 8 million pounds of guacamole was consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.
Eight million pounds of dip means a lot of avocados being sold -- music to the ears of Calavo Growers, the primary producer of avocados and avocado products in the United States. One day won't make or break the year, but Super Bowl Sunday is nonetheless crucial for its business.
8. 1.5 million TV sets were sold during the week of the Super Bowl.
Yes, this actually means there could be life yet for electronic big-box retailer Best Buy (NYSE: BBY ) , which has struggled with declining margins, especially in regard to TV sales. One week of decent sales isn't going to be enough to drag a company like Sony out of an eight-year-long losing streak for its TV division, but it's better than a kick in the pants.
9. Sales for antacid increased by 20% Super Bowl weekend.
There is a price to be paid for 1.25 billion chicken wings, about 4 million pizzas and 8 million pounds of guacamole -- and heartburn is the reward. Luckily for consumers, Big Pharma has you covered. GlaxoSmithKline's Tums, Novartis' Maalox, Procter & Gamble's Pepto-Bismol, and Bayer's Alka-Selzter were waiting down the first-aid aisle come early Monday morning.
10. Roughly 35% of people who attend the Super Bowl will write it off as a corporate expense.
OK, so this one isn't exactly going to make you money, but I wanted to throw it in here to show just how absurd our tax system is, that a football game is viewed as a corporate expense. And you wonder why we can't figure out how to cut $2.2 trillion out of the federal budget?
Do you have a favorite Super Bowl fact or one that stood out the most to you? Share it in the comments section below. Also, if you want access to more companies set to benefit from increased consumer spending, then get your copy of our latest special report, "3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World," in which our top-notch analysts name three companies raking in the dough in the emerging markets. Best of all, this report is completely free! Don't miss out!
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