This year's guide
to Super Bowl trivia
Fans will spend nearly $190 million on potato chips
By Diego Vasquez
Feb 4, 2010
The Super Bowl is about much more than just advertising.
It's also about where you watch the game, what you eat during the game, what you drink during the game, what protests will be held during the game, and what show airs after the game.
And oh yes, an actual football game is played, which receives a bit of hype as well.
Here's your guide to all the non-ad-related minutiae surrounding Sunday's Super Bowl on CBS, starting with who's favored to win the game.
Most betting sites have the Indianapolis Colts favored by five points over the New Orleans Saints.
But you can also bet on things as absurd as how many times CBS's cameras will focus on reality star Kim Kardashian, the girlfriend of Saints running back Reggie Bush; whether the opening coin toss will be heads or tails; and the color of the Gatorade that showers the winning coach postgame.
If you were laying bets on the most popular Super Bowl day foods, veggies probably wouldn't be on your list, but you'd be wrong. According to a new study from the NPD Group, vegetables are the No. 1 food consumed in households on Super Bowl day. Potatoes were second.
The No. 1 beverage?
Soft drinks, followed by milk and tea. Beer did not even make the top three, which makes one wonder where exactly they recruited these subjects.
In terms of beer sales, the Super Bowl ranks behind six other holidays, including Halloween, for six-pack sales in the two weeks surrounding the event, Nielsen says.
Overall, people will spend just $644 million on Super Bowl snacks, with nearly $190 million going to potato chips.
Despite the game's reputation as an excuse to go out and have fun, 90 percent of respondents to a recent Nielsen study said they planned to stay home or go to a friend's house to watch the Super Bowl. A mere 3 percent said they were going to a bar or restaurant.
Gatherings are more popular among the young. According to an Empower MediaMarketing study earlier this decade, roughly half of people ages 18-20 watch the game with six or more friends, compared to 10 percent of those 50 and over.
The majority of these viewers are affluent, socially aware and planning for the future. According to Scarborough Research, Super Bowl viewers are about 12 percent more likely than the average person to have a house worth $2 million or more and to own at least one luxury vehicle.
They are also more likely to have a 401K, IRA and college savings plan. They tend to donate to political and social causes.
Speaking of social causes, Protect Our Children, an anti-sexual predator group in South Florida, is protesting against halftime performer Pete Townshend, who was placed on a list of sex offenders seven years ago after viewing a site with kiddie porn.
The group is handing out pamphlets warning parents in Miami, where the game is being held, about The Who member's offense.
As for general Super Bowl trivia, here are some fast facts about the game: Miami and New Orleans have hosted the big game the most, nine times apiece.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most wins, picking up No. 6 last year. Buffalo, Minnesota and Denver are tied with the most losses, four.
The show after this year's game will be the series premiere of "Undercover Boss," the first time since 1995's short-lived "Extreme" that a new show has bowed directly after the Super Bowl. ("American Dad" premiered after "The Simpsons" in 2005.)
Last year's post-Super Bowl show, "The Office," averaged 22 million total viewers. NBC's "Friends" holds the record for biggest post-Super Bowl show, averaging nearly 53 million in 1996.
And finally, while the Colts may be favored on the field, in the battle of pet names the Saints prevail. Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. says that Saints-related names (such as Drew or Brees) are very slightly more common than Colts-related names (like Peyton and Manning).
|
|
|
