Minnesota is quite the winter wonderland — or an inhospitable frozen tundra. Just ask Super Bowl fans.
The American Public Media Research Lab recently interviewed nearly 1,000 people who do not live in Minnesota and asked a few simple questions: Do you know where Super Bowl LII was held? And based on media coverage of the game, are you more likely or less likely to come pay the Land of 10,000 Lakes a visit?
More than a week’s worth of events leading up to the coldest Super Bowl in National Football League history generated plenty of media buzz, some of it good, some of it straight up frigid.
“Like the game between the Eagle and Patriots itself, the contest between positive and negative impressions was mixed, with less than 10 percentage points favoring the victor,” reads the conclusion to American Public Media’s 13-page report.
In all, 37 percent of respondents said they were “more likely” to think of Minneapolis as a good place to visit, while 29 percent said they were less likely.
Taken together, more than a third of respondents said media coverage didn’t matter — 23 percent — or they didn’t know — 11 percent. More than half of respondents — 54 percent — were able to name the city or state where the game took place.
The national telephone survey, financed by American Public Media and not connected to game sponsors, had a margin of error of 3.6 percent.
Super Bowl LII brought the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Feb. 4, drawing more than 66,000 ticket-holders and plenty of speculation about immediate and ancillary costs and benefits to the Twin Cities.
Minneapolis-area hotels clearly saw a boost. But some St. Paul bars and restaurants that anticipated large crowds and applied for special permits to stay open until 4 a.m. reported closing early in light of slow sales.
Many other numbers are still being tabulated, such as sales tax proceeds, or debated outright. There’s even disagreement over whether the Super Bowl drew 125,000 visitors or more than 1 million, visitors, depending upon whether residents in and around the Twin Cities can be called “visitors.”
What’s undebatable is that the Super Bowl attracted dozens of news outlets and some big-name celebrities to the area, which at least briefly boosted the region’s exposure.
Half-time performer Justin Timberlake held an album listening session at Prince’s Paisley Park studios and used his Twitter account to announce he had left fans a handful of free DVDs at the Target store in St. Paul’s Midway.
International media also crossed the Mississippi River to visit downtown St. Paul’s Rice Park, which hosted a seven-story ice castle as part of an extended, 17-day Winter Carnival celebration. More than 103 million television viewers tuned into the Feb. 4 game itself.
Did all that effort leave a positive impression?
Yes and no.
According to the American Public Media report, a survey respondent noted “the news coverage was favorable. The place is very nice. I want to go there.” But another put things more bluntly: “Minneapolis is cold. The Super Bowl isn’t going to change that.”
Copyright 2018 Pioneer Press.