Do Real Estate Prices Influence Super Bowl Appearances?
The 10 NFL teams that have appeared in the Super Bowl the most, seven are from cities with high median home prices, when compared to the national median home price. The opposite is also true; the 10 teams that have been to the Super Bowl the least, if they have even gone at all, generally come from cities with low median home prices.
The following question begs to be asked: Is there a correlation between the real estate prices of the city an NFL team comes from and the number of times that team has been to the Super Bowl?
NFL teams From Cities with High Real Estate Prices Tend to Succeed. The following facts support the existence of a correlation between Super Bowl appearances and high real estate prices:
The 10 teams that have been to the Super Bowl the most come from cities with an average median home price (i.e., the average of the median home prices for all 10 cities) of $339,800.
The 10 teams that have been to the Super Bowl the least come from cities with an average median home price of $212,450.
The average median home price of the 10 teams that have been to the Super Bowl the most is significantly higher than the national median home price ($216,700) and the average median home price of all the cities that host NFL teams ($243,341).
Consider some examples of teams and cities that adhere to this possible correlation. San Francisco’s median home price, $751,600, is one of the highest in America. The city also hosts a team that has been to five Super Bowls. The median home price in Washington, D.C., $443,700, is twice that of the national median, and the Redskins have made five trips to the big game. One of New York’s two teams, the Giants, has been to the Super Bowl five times as well; the Big Apple has the high median home price of $517,900.
Real Estate Prices Not Always an Indicator. There are significant exceptions to this hypothetical correlation, however. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, and Green Bay Packers, three of the NFL’s most illustrious teams, come from cities with low median home prices. Pittsburgh, for example, has a median home price of $92,500, which is a whopping 57.3 percent lower than the national median.
There are also exceptions at the opposite end of the table. Some teams that have rarely been to the Super Bowl come from cities with very high real estate prices. Two of America’s most expensive housing markets, San Diego and Seattle, have only been to the Super Bowl once. If there really were a correlation, the Chargers and Seahawks would consistently be two of the best teams in the NFL.
Did this Correlation Exist in the 2012-2013 NFL Season? Partially. San Francisco has high real estate prices, but Baltimore does not; its median home price of $168,400 is 22.3 percent lower than the national median. If real estate prices always determined who made it to the big game, teams like the Giants, Seahawks, or even the Raiders would be playing on Feb. 3.
The teams from the cities with higher real estate prices won exactly half of the playoff games they played in. In the quarterfinals, New England and San Francisco advanced while Denver and Seattle were felled. New England then succumbed to defeat in the semifinals, yet San Francisco was able to produce a last-minute victory and advance to the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl Statistics
Real estate prices aside, impress your friends and family with your knowledge of America’s most popular sporting event by sharing these fun facts with them.
First Super Bowl: 1966, Green Bay Packers 35, Kansas City Chiefs 10. Most wins: Pittsburgh Steelers, six wins (out of a total of eight appearances). Most popular Super Bowl venue: Louisiana/Mercedes-Benz Superdome, seven Super Bowls.
Most-viewed Super Bowl: Super Bowl XLVI (2012), 111.3 million viewers. Cost per second for commercials during upcoming Super Bowl: $133,333. Most money bet on a Super Bowl with Vegas bookies: $94.5 million, Super Bowl XL (2006).
Average number of calories consumed per person watching the Super Bowl: 1,200.
By: Andy Fulton
Jan 29, 2013
#GoSeahawks
