NFL Offseason Heats Up After Playoff Bar Foot Traffic Surges | Bars & Restaurants Analysis

The NFL playoffs feel like they're in the distant past, having happened over a month ago. But with the draft coming up in April and free agency moves happening constantly, the NFL is still a hotly discussed topic. Which teams have been making the right offseason moves? Will the young draft picks live up to their potential? Will the Chicago Bears' first round pick be a QB? Every offseason decision made has a direct impact on each team's ability to make it to the one place that all teams and fans hope for every year: the Super Bowl.

While the Super Bowl is where all teams want to go, based on our data, bars and restaurants should be pulling out all the stops for the round before the Super Bowl. According to our mobility data, 15% more people went to bars and restaurants to watch the Championship Round (the playoff round prior to the Super Bowl) than the Super Bowl. At first glance, this may come as a surprise because the Super Bowl is well-known to be the most watched game of the year. This is no doubt because Super Bowl parties tend to take place in someone's home with chips, some homemade dip, and wings aplenty. So while more people watch the Super Bowl in general, bars and restaurants see the most traffic the round before the Super Bowl.

As an added insight, we took a look at the way bar foot traffic explodes for the playoffs. Once again, we saw the highest spike in foot traffic for the Championship Round. People's attendance to bars and restaurants during the Championship Round weekend spiked up 40% more than during the regular season. This, of course, translates to more revenue for these venues, making the NFL playoffs a time for bars and restaurants to look forward to every year.

As key offseason decisions get made and we gear up for another NFL season, The People Platform will continue to observe compelling industry patterns like this one.

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