The Super Bowl has been entertaining football fans since 1967, selling out host stadiums and bringing together thousands of spectators, industry elite, and media personnel for years. In 2003, attendance at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium surpassed 67,000 people, and over the last 36 years, attendance has averaged almost 79,000 people per game.

Host cities and their hotels benefit considerably from the frenzy of activity surrounding the event. With a direct impact expected to surpass $300 million (San Diego reported an economic impact of $367 million from the 2003 event), the City of Houston is looking to the event not only as an economic boon for 2004, but also to a successful event execution which will hopefully lead to future Super Bowls. The last Super Bowl held in Houston was in 1974; this was the only year a Super Bowl took place in the state of Texas.

Many of the direct expenditures from the event will benefit the Houston hotel industry. The Super Bowl will be held in the city’s downtown 69,500-seat Reliant Stadium, and downtown’s roughly 3,400 guestrooms - 50% of which have been added in the last few years - are sold out at premium rates. Downtown managers are thankful for the event, coming during a particularly weak period in the history of downtown’s lodging sector and on the heels of the City’s 285-million, 1,200-room Hilton Americas hotel opening in December 2003. Houston offers almost 500 hotels citywide, with just over 58,000 guestrooms. Houston’s hotels stand to benefit from the Super Bowl from the following primary sources:

• The visiting teams require significant room blocks for their players, coaches, media relations, executives and owners, and all other related personnel. This year, the AFC’s New England Patriots are headquartered in the 485-room Inter-Continental at the Galleria, while the NFC’s Carolina Panthers are headquartered at the city’s northern 472-room Wyndham Greenspoint
• The event brings together thousands of spectators (game attendance in Houston should surpass 68,000 persons), most of which travel from beyond the host city to see the game
• The news media surrounding the event descends on the host city on a massive scale, bringing together reporters and their crews and producers from around the globe
• The retail activity that is spurred by the event is also significant, bringing sellers and their wares to the city to capture the expenditures of game spectators
• The entertainment industry are also significant aspects of the game, with hundreds of people involved in related parties, the half-time show, and pre- and post-events. Major entertainers arrive with their management staff, and all require hotel room blocks. This year’s event will begin with its pre-game “Welcome to Houston – The Spirit of Texas” show featuring country music stars Toby Keith and Willie Nelson together with Aerosmith. Josh Groban will also perform a tribute to the NASA Columbia Crew during the pre-game show. Houston native Beyoncé Knowles will sing the national anthem, and the MTV-produced AOL Half Time Show will feature Janet Jackson, Nelly, Kid Rock, and P. Diddy.

All of this activity extends well beyond just Super Bowl Sunday. Hotels benefit from Super Bowl related demand days before the game; and primary host hotels see benefit for longer periods. Benefit also extends beyond the use of hotel rooms – primary host hotels see considerable revenues with related banquets, increased use of hotel restaurants, bars, and room service, and other ancillary revenue sources such as spas, athletic clubs, business centers, and meeting room rentals. The annual NFL Charities Golf Classic, which occurs on the Saturday before the game, is also a popular event. Amateurs join with more than 80 celebrities for the benefit of the NFL's Youth Education Town projects.

The event is normally well timed for the host city's hotel industry, during a period when meeting and convention demand is typically slower than in the busier spring and fall months.

The following table illustrates a hotel room night demand and occupancy comparison for the last four host cities.

Not surprisingly, room nights sold in the Super Bowl year are stronger than in the average non-game year. In Atlanta, January 2000 room nights were almost 500,000 stronger (or 6.5% better) than the average room nights sold during January in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Despite positive room night impact for these four cities, occupancy trends were mixed due mainly to supply increases; average occupancy levels by city ranged from 66.2% to 71.9% for the Super Bowl month. By contrast, Houston's hotel industry achieves an average occupancy level between 55.0% and 57.0% during January, a typically slow month for the city’s lodging sector. The Super Bowl should result in a notable boost to this mid 50s occupancy position in 2004.

Hotels not only benefit from high occupancy during the event, but room rates also spike considerably higher as well. The following table illustrates a rooms revenue and average rate comparison for the last four host cities.

Demand spikes to such a high level during the days before the game that hotels charge premium rates without hesitation. San Diego room rates were almost 9.0% higher in January 2003 than during the previous years’ average in this comparison. Atlanta, Tampa, and New Orleans experienced 3.2%, 6.6%, and 7.9% premiums by comparison, reflecting a strengthening trend over the four year period. Houston’s January rates, which normally average between $75 and $80 citywide, should see at least a $3.00 to $5.00 improvement due to the activity generated by the event. Primary host hotels and downtown hotels will benefit from a much greater premium.

Houston won its bid for the 2004 Super Bowl in November of 2000, one year after the city won an expansion franchise team. Future games are scheduled as follows:

• February 6, 2005: Jacksonville, Florida (Jacksonville offered to have docked cruise ships on the St. Johns River to make up for a lack of hotel rooms in the city).
• February 5, 2005: Detroit, Michigan
• February 4, 2007: Miami, Florida

On October 20, 2003, the NFL owners awarded the 2008 Super Bowl to Arizona, to be held in a new Glendale stadium now under construction.