Major cities in the Super Bowl equation saw a significant decline in restaurant sales on the day of the big game this year. From Denver to Seattle to New York, there was a noticeable decline in bar and dining sales on game day compared to other football Sundays.
Avero‘s restaurant software data shows that New York, the city that hosted the big game, saw a 25% decease in dining sales and a 1% decrease in bar sales compared to recent Sunday sales. Denver and Seattle both saw decreases of 38% and 61%, respectively, in dining room sales, but increases of 8% and 7%, respectively, in bar sales compared to recent Sunday sales.
This meek performance on Super Bowl Sunday may not be a surprise considering 6% of New York restaurants typically open on Sundays closed for the big game. Was this a show of loyal fans who did not want to miss the game themselves or a shrewd business move based on historical performance during game day?
The major outlier this year was Las Vegas, which saw an 18% increase in dining sales and an over 100% increase in bar sales as compared to other sports Sundays. High performance on game day shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise considering Las Vegas has a large sports betting scene, however, this astronomic incrase was probably due to the fact that Las Vegas experienced the highest volume of sports betting in the history of Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday 2014.
Read more of Avero’s restaurant sales analyses.
