College of Education and Human Development

Super Bowl Impact

FAIRFAX, Va.— With Super Bowl LV looming, two George Mason University sport management experts shared how they think this year’s big game might look different due to the pandemic.

Robert Baker, the interim dean for the College of Education and Human Development and the former director of the School of Sport, Recreation, and Tourism Management (SRTM), spoke with WalletHub about the impact of the pandemic on the Super Bowl and tourism in Tampa Bay, where the game will be held on Sunday.

“The impact in Tampa will be somewhat reduced due to COVID,” Baker said. “However, the impact on a sport-starved country (and the world) may actually be greater. The concentrated hype for televised exposure may yield record numbers watching the game, which would spread the wealth well beyond the bounds of the Tampa Bay area.”

Interim director of SRTM and sport management professor Laurence Chalip spoke to the Tampa Bay Times about how hotels and local tourism may be affected because of the pandemic.

“We are going to learn a lot in the process of this happening,” Chalip said. “The forecasts are guesses at this point.”