How people plan to watch and celebrate Super Bowl LV will look very different this year, according to a new study by Oracle. The study of 2,000 U.S. consumers who plan to watch the Big Game found that people are planning to watch alone or via a virtual party, opting for loungewear over fan gear, and are looking for humor and inspiration from this year’s advertisements. 

Fans’ Excitement Remains High, But Consumption Will Vary

While COVID-19 has not impacted overall game day excitement, it has changed how people will experience Super Bowl LV.

• 8 percent of people plan to attend a virtual party while twice as many people plan to watch alone this year compared to past years.
• 21 percent of people plan to wear loungewear/pajamas, the same percentage as fans who will still wear fan gear. 6 percent of people plan to wear underwear/nothing at all.
• People expect to spend less on the Super Bowl this year with those spending between $100 and $500 falling 7 percent from last year.
• While the Super Bowl won’t have the same fanfare, COVID-19 hasn’t tamped down excitement with people just as excited for this year’s game as previous years.
• The Super Bowl ranks as Americans’ third most popular holiday. The December holidays and Thanksgiving are the two most popular holidays for Americans.

Fans Forego New Year’s Resolutions on Game Day

While many things have changed over the last 12 months, one thing remains the same: People plan to use the Super Bowl as an opportunity to give in to their cravings.

• 42 percent of people plan on using February 7, 2021 as a cheat day from New Year’s resolutions.
• 19 percent of people plan to drink more than previous years; 16 percent simply plan to “eat and drink everything in sight,” and 8 percent plan to drink a lot more.
• 47 percent of people have taken off the day after the Super Bowl to recover. Nearly three times as many men take off the day-after the Super Bowl every year. Fans rooting for the Bucs are most likely to take off the day off after the Super Bowl.

Fans Go to Great Lengths for a Team Win

Fans will go to great measures to ensure their teams win and regardless of the result, crying is a common reaction to the game outcome.

• 54 percent of fans would make a major sacrifice in exchange for their team winning the Super Bowl. The most popular sacrifices were giving up drinking for a year (22 percent), doing all household chores for a year (22 percent), giving up your favorite food for a year (19 percent) and losing a week’s vacation (17 percent).
• 35 percent of people say the Super Bowl has made them cry. Men are twice as likely to cry as women.
• 35 percent of people have superstitions that need to be followed during the Super Bowl. Gen Z are almost twice as likely to report superstitions as Baby Boomers.
• Bucs fans are more superstitious than Chiefs fans with 53 percent of Bucs fans having superstitions needing to be followed during the Super Bowl versus 44 percent of Chiefs fans.

Fans Looking for Humor and Inspiration in Ads

Advertisements are a focal point of the Super Bowl and this year consumers want to see ads with humor and inspirational messages.

• 53 percent of people say the Super Bowl wouldn’t be the same without the ads, while 16 percent wouldn’t watch it without the ads and 11 percent are only planning to watch the ads.
• 22 percent of people are more excited for this year’s ads compared to past years and 33 percent say they think this year’s ads will be better than last years.
• The majority of people (55 percent) say humor is their top reason for watching Super Bowl ads.
• 13 percent of people watch the ads to learn about new products being launched, while 7 percent watch for the celebrities. More than any other generation, Gen Z watch the Super Bowl ads to get new ideas or to learn about new products.

“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,” said Nate Skinner, senior vice president, Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience. “As our study shows, the fan experience will be very different this year, and in order to make this moment matter, marketers and advertisers will need to use data to understand changing behaviors 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!”

Learn more about how the world’s leading sports organizations win with Oracle here.

Methodology

Research findings conducted between January 8 and January 9, 2021 are based on a survey of 2,000 general consumers. All 2,000 respondents are planning to watch the Super Bowl. The margin of error is 2.2%. Gender and age were weighted evenly in the sampling process to reflect US population demographics, and therefore no post-sampling stratification was applied. Oracle conducted and analyzed this survey with a sample procured using the Pollfish survey delivery platform, which delivers online surveys globally through mobile apps and the mobile web along with the desktop web.