A study by Oracle has found that Twice as many people will be watching the super bowl alone or with a virtual party this year.
While the study says people are just as excited for this year’s Super Bowl as in previous years, they won’t be spending the Big Game day with friends over piles of wings. Instead, 8% of respondents plan on attending a virtual party.
Twice as many people as in previous years will be watching the Super Bowl on their own, which perhaps explains why almost equal numbers (21%) of people will be wearing pyjamas as those in fan gear.
In a true testament to freedom, 6% of respondents plan to watch the Super Bowl nude or in their underwear.
Perhaps this lack of expenditure on clothes also explains why people are generally expecting to spend less than in previous years. There has been a 7% fall in people spending $100 – $500 on the holiday.
According to Oracle, crying is “a common reaction to the game outcome”, a sign of the emotional intensity of America’s third favourite holiday (behind Christmas and New Years). 54% of fans would make a ‘major sacrifice’ in exchange for their team winning the Super Bowl. This does sound quite dramatic, but the ‘major sacrifices’ in question are giving up drinking for a year (22%), doing all household chores for a year (22%). giving up your favourite food for a year (19%) or losing a week’s vacation (17%).
Men are twice as likely to cry at the Super Bowl as women, and 35% of people say the Super Bowl has made them cry before. This may be because of their above commitments to give up drinking.
One of the quintessential elements of the Big Game are fan superstitions, with Gen Z’s surprisingly twice more likely to follow superstitions than Boomers. Bucs fans are also more superstitious than Chiefs fans.
Ultimately, fans are also looking for humour and inspiration in their advertisements. 11% of Super Bowl viewers (presumably those who have not yet discovered YouTube) will be only watching the ads, and 53% agree that the Super Bowl would not be the same without the ads.
According to Nate Skinner, senior vice president of Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience, “the Super Bowl is an experience people look forward to every year and an incredible opportunity for brands to reach and engage a huge audience.”
While the fan experience this year may be “very different”, Skinner says that “in order to make this moment matter, marketers and advertisers will need to use data to understand changing behaviours and expectations. Our study provides a glimpse into what to expect this year and however the big game turns out, we are proud to call both the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Oracle customers. We couldn’t be more excited about their success!”
For many, the Super Bowl is a day of relaxation and indulgence. 42% will be using it as a cheat day from New Year’s resolutions and 19% of people plan to drink more than previous years. Some are even more ambitious, with 16% planning to “eat and drink everything in sight” and 8% planning to drink a lot more (Oracle’s own italics.
With stats like these, it’s clear that you don’t need friends to have a good time on Super Bowl Sunday!
