The Road to Super Bowl 50

January 27, 2016
|In Content Strategy
|By admin

Americans & Canadians pick SuperBowl teams, favorite commercials, and whether or not fantasy sports sites should be legal.

We surveyed 1425 Americans and Canadians – a whopping 66% (943) reported they plan to watch the SuperBowl this year. 73% in the US – what else could they be doing on February 7th?

As for why so many people watch the SuperBowl, 30% want to see a good game, nearly 8% want to know the final score. A whopping 32% are purely in it for the commercials and half time show. A staggering 25% want to just hang out with family/friends.

Canadians watch football? Really?

A surprising 37% of Canadians surveyed will watch the SuperBowl, despite having their own 9-team Canadian Football League, highlighted by Canada’s largest annual sports and television event – the Grey Cup.

Where will people watch from?

The majority of respondents will watch at home (67%) vs a friend’s house (16%) or a bar (9%).
Only 7% care to watch with their relatives. Which was consistent for all age groups (14-17, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, >54).

Sorry Grandpa and Grandma.

The best team always wins…

The majority of those surveyed (64%) picked a clear winner for the AFC & NFC Championship games, though, not with great accuracy. Most thought that the New England Patriots (33%) and Carolina Panthers (44%) would win.
Over a third didn’t care to pick a winner, feeling that “the best team always wins”, that it’s more important to use the time as a social gathering – or didn’t care about the results at all.

41% of those surveyed admit they plan on making a friendly wager. Perhaps the rest just don’t have a plan.

So What Are People Going To Bet On?

  • 40% said the final score.
  • 10% are in a “box pool”.
  • 9% on who will score first.
  • 7% on the coin toss.
  • 5% on who a fantasy sport site.
  • And 18% are betting on whatever they think they can win.

I hope they bring a lot of singles.

Should Fantasy Sports Sites be Legal?

Of all who responded (809), nearly 42% felt that fantasy sports sites (like Fan Duel and Draft Kings) should be legal, and 40% were not sure.

Only 18% were adamant that the sites should be made illegal. Tell that to the NY State Attorney General. Power to the People.

Advertisers, listen up! 

Our final two questions focused on “favorite commercials of all time” and “the brand I would most like to see create a commercial for the Super Bowl”. Budweiser and Doritos appeared to dominate the consciousness here.

  • 47% say commercials are “memorable if they are creative/funny”
  • 14% said commercials made them remember the brand
  • Over 14% say they make them look up a product online/go out and buy
  • 10% want to share the commercials with their social networks

Only 14% said that commercials had no effect. Apparently your $4.8M for a 30-second spot is doing something.

For more on the survey, or to analyze the results by gender, age or location, visit the results page here.