Caleb Grubb will be working his fourth Super Bowl at the Airway Road pizza shop on Sunday. He said he’s prepared for a really busy afternoon.
“We get a lot of carry-out. A lot,” Grubb said. “Six to 10 pizzas per order.”
The Super Bowl is consistently the most-watched television broadcast of the year regardless of who is playing, according to the Nielsen ratings.
Last year, Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs drew a record 127.7 million viewers in the U.S. This year’s match-up between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots is projected to draw similar numbers.
A huge percentage of viewers will be watching with family or friends as part of a Super Bowl event, according to survey data from the National Retail Federation. About 113.7 million people last year either hosted or attended a watch party.
That’s great news for local stores like Smales Pretzel Bakery in Dayton.
The Xenia Avenue bakery is closed Sundays the rest of the year, but opens for a few hours on Super Bowl Sunday to allow people to pick up pre-ordered platters for parties.
For the past several years, Smales has sold a platter of 35 pretzel babies and 8 ounces of beer cheese in order to grab a part of the $20.2 billion the National Retail Federation estimates is spent on food, drinks and apparel for watch parties.
“We have a lot of pick-up orders that Sunday,” said Tamara Baker, a pretzel maker at Smales.
While the Super Bowl pre-orders have resulted in a nice bump in sales for Smales, it lags behind Valentine’s Day for the busiest day of the year, Baker said.
If your store isn’t in the party business, the Super Bowl seems to be just another Sunday for local shops.
“The Super Bowl doesn’t hurt but it doesn’t really help, either,” said Rick Baarlaer, owner of Mr. Boro’s Tavern in Springboro. “Pro football in general has been down.”
Mr. Boro’s Tavern at 495 N. Main St. will draw its regulars and maybe a few others for the big game, he said, but it will be a far cry from the crowds that pack the place on Saturdays for Ohio State football games.
NFL game traffic, including the Super Bowl, “isn’t what it used to be,” Baarlaer said, prompting him to drop the NFL Sunday Ticket package he was paying $1,600 a year for.
“Obviously when the Bengals were good it was worth it,” Baarlaer said.
The participating teams make a big difference when it comes to local business impact.
According to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce following last year’s game, host city New Orleans saw an estimated $500 million in local economic impact. Philadelphia and the Kansas City metro area saw spending of $346.8 million and $123.3 million, respectively.
Things are much different in the Dayton region when the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns or Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t in the picture.
Neither sporting good giants Dick’s Sporting Goods nor Rally House carry Super Bowl items in-store outside of the participating teams’ markets, including generic t-shirts.
Merchandise is available on both stores’ websites, but that’s it.
“There’s just not anyone interested,” said Alexa Smith, a manager at the Dayton Mall’s Rally House location.
When Cincinnati made it to Super Bowl LVI in 2022, half the store was converted to Bengals merchandise, with more and more customers coming in and calling after each playoff win, she said.
Smith said this year, like most, there’s simply no interest.
“We haven’t even had anyone come in and ask.”
The Super Bowl LX begins at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.
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