Fans aren’t the only ones gearing up for Super Bowl Sunday. Many

local restaurants and bars have already begun preparation for the

massive influx of customers on what they find is the biggest day of

the year.

Fans aren’t the only ones gearing up for Super Bowl Sunday. Many local restaurants and bars have already begun preparation for the massive influx of customers on what they find is the biggest day of the year.

The month of February is popular for its multiple holidays and observances. These important dates include Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, Ash Wednesday, President’s Day and of course the annual celebration of Black history month. But for most men, there is only one significant thing going on in February…Super Bowl Sunday.

The Super Bowl however is not just a big day for the NFL teams waiting to win their platinum trophies and thousand dollar rings, nor is it for the eager fans that crowd around televisions with beer and wings. For many bars and restaurants, the first Sunday of February is their busiest and the most profitable day. And according to Donna Harden, chef runner/manager at local Papa John’s, “super-bowl Sunday is a mandatory workday”.

Every year for Papa John’s the revenue and along with the number of pizzas and wings increases. Last year alone they made a total of 802 products and took 376 orders. Their final sales at the end of the day totaled around $7500. “The phones start going off at 2:30…we definitely have to be ready before Sunday.” Along with having all the staff, they also have to prep plenty of dough that morning, make sure to have many refills on ingredients close by and every pizza box in the store must be folded prior to Sunday. Hooters also prepares for the Super Bowl just slightly different.

“We have to have lots and lots of girls,” states Lindsey Stallings the general manager of a neighborhood Hooter’s. Besides having a ton of Hooter’s girls, they must also have a ton of wings to prepare. Last year they reportedly sold around 30,000 wings; which helped bring their total revenue to nearly $20,000. “We also play table games for everyone to enjoy…it’s a lot of fun here” she added.

While local restaurants across the United States are pulling in thousands, the state in which the actual super-bowl is held makes proceeds in the millions. From the thousands of daily flights coming in and the hotels that are booked all that weekend to every restaurant in that city packed form wall to wall; the Super Bowl offers a more than reasonable income for the host state. The Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas was the home of the super-bowl last year. Many businesses had already anticipated the enormous revenue that the superbowl was going to bring. Robert Canton, director of the sports and tourism sector for Pricewaterhouse Coopers US, commented the Friday before the big game that the “Dallas-Fort Worth [area] appears ready to capture much of the fan and corporate spending.” Although the icy, snowy weather brought many doubts and concerns of the turnout of the fans, all of north Texas gained a very profitable feedback.

Starting with the arrival to the super-bowl almost 1,200 private aircrafts landed during Super Bowl week, according to figures reported by six of the 15 regional airports and heliports. “Dallas/Fort Worth Airport had an additional 44 charter flights, 100 corporate aircraft and 60 extra commercial airline flights,” the host committee President Bill Lively stated. After arrival, the fans needed somewhere to stay the night before and after the big game. With Arlington’s hotels reporting a 91 percent occupancy rate for Saturday and Sunday nights of Super Bowl weekend, the game had “the largest impact of any event ever for us,” said Jay Burress, Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau chief executive. According to Smith Travel Research, Arlington hotels brought in $1.49 million in revenue on Saturday night. And don’t worry about transportation in the bad weather because the Trinity Railway Express accommodated all. On the day before the game, the TRE carried a record 9,088 riders between Dallas and Fort Worth, to events including the NFL Experience and the ESPN sets in Sundance Square. In total, the Super Bowl in North Texas brought in around $200 million. Lively asserted, “here’s what we know so far … the economic impact of this game was tremendous and made a big impact on this state in a difficult time with our budget.”

This year the game is to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Lucas Oil stadium or better known as the home of the Indianapolis Colts. An analysis by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the largest accounting and business consultancy, projects this year’s Super Bowl in Indianapolis will generate 150 million in spending; this includes transportation, meals, entertainment, business services, and other hospitality and tourism activities.

The Super Bowl is an exciting time for fans and businesses alike. While the fans get to enjoy the game wherever they are, businesses at the host state as well as restaurants and bars across the United States benefit from the enormous profit that they bring in. It’s the unofficial holiday for bars that employee’s get to celebrate at work.

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• U’Leasa Joseph, Contributor