Tailgating football fans grill up big gains for local economies, according to a report by the Bank of America Institute’s David Tinsley and Taylor Bowley.
Key takeaways from their report:
As the Seattle Seahawks line up against the New England Patriots, we highlight the power of sports in boosting local economies. As of November 2025, consumer spending on attending spectator sports was up over 25 percent on 2019, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
And when fans come to games, they bring spending and other economic opportunities to local communities. On NFL game days, in the zip codes where stadiums are located, total credit and debit card spending rises by around 77 percent, according to Bank of America internal data. Unsurprisingly, the biggest increases are in food and drinks, parking and lodging.
We also find some evidence of an additional boost for the zip codes around the Super Bowl host stadiums. This year’s game will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California; the last time it hosted the event, in 2016, San Francisco reported an influx of more than a million visitors.
Read the full analysis for a more in-depth look at these trends.
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