Supermarkets Poised to Win Big on Super Bowl Sunday

Regardless of the outcome of Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos, supermarkets will be the big winners as the most popular place to acquire game-day related goods, followed by discount stores and warehouse clubs, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Nearly 80 percent – or 191.3 million – of Americans are expected to tune in on Feb. 7, armed with an average of $89 spent on food, beverage, apparel, themed merchandise and electronics, per ICSC.

Other anticipated winners of ICSC's Super Bowl consumer expenditures' insights finds in-store triumphing online; Millennials outspending Boomers; and chips prevailing over burgers.

A closer look at the ICSC study finds that an estimated 40 percent of American adults who plan to spend money for the game will do so at a shopping center. Of those who will spend money on items for the game, 75 percent will do so at a grocery store or supermarket, followed by discount stores (30 percent), warehouse clubs (16 percent), convenience stores (11 percent), sporting goods retailers (9 percent), and electronics stores (7 percent).

Among the other highlights of the ICSC study:

• Whether planning to watch at home or at their local watering hole, consumers are loosening their purse strings. Of those who plan to watch, 85 percent will spend on food and drinks, 23 percent on apparel and Super Bowl-themed merchandise, and 14 percent on electronics.
• Physical store locations will continue to triumph over e-commerce and remain the dominant channel across all venues,
• Millennials are particularly big fans of the national sporting event, with an anticipated average spend of $143 on related purchases of apparel, Super Bowl-themed merchandise, and electronics.
• While about two-thirds (67 percent) of American adults who will watch the game will do so in their own homes, 9.6 million American adults plan to watch in a bar/café or restaurant at a shopping center.
• Millennial viewers will also consume more than their older counterparts – roughly 2.7 times as much – spending an average of $143 compared to Baby Boomers, who will spend an average of $53. The difference is not as apparent in the food and drink category, but primarly in apparel/merchandise category.
• Millennials also separate themselves from the pack when it comes to why they’re watching, as 38 percent note their primary reason is to be with friends and family, while a majority of Boomers (64 percent) will tune in to watch the game.
• Dubbed the “Golden Super Bowl” for its 50th anniversary, American adults who will watch the game at home with five or more people plan to spend an average of $88 on food/drinks.
• The Super Bowl may have ditched its trademark roman numerals in favor of the big 5-0, but snacks still reign supreme for parties of all sizes. Of those planning to spend money on food and drink, chips, soda, wings, pizza and beer are the chart-topping snacks and libations.

New York, N.Y.-based ICSC is the global trade association of the shopping center industry.