Apple, Other Tech Companies Give $2 Million Each to Cover Taxpayer Costs of Super Bowl 50 - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple, Other Tech Companies Give $2 Million Each to Cover Taxpayer Costs of Super Bowl 50

by

super_bowl_50_logo_white Apple, along with fellow tech companies Intel, Yahoo, and Google, has given $2 million in cash and other services to offset taxpayer costs of hosting Super Bowl 50 in the Bay Area, reports the San Jose Mercury News (via AppleInsider). In exchange for their donations, each company will receive their own private Super Bowl suite and publicity around the time of the game in 2016.

In total, the Bay Area Super Bowl Host Committee announced that it had raised $40 million for Super Bowl 50. The game will be held in the newly constructed Levi's Stadium, which be the home of the San Francisco 49ers this year after taking two years and $1.3 billion to build. The stadium is also just 13 miles away from Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California.

It is unknown exactly how Apple will plan to use its Super Bowl publicity, but the company has had quite the history running Super Bowl advertisements in the past and could choose to run one in 2016. Apple's "1984" television ad for the Macintosh was among the most iconic in TV advertising history, as the company ran its last dedicated Super Bowl commercial in 1999.

Since then, a number of rumors throughout the years have pointed to Apple running more commercials alongside the Super Bowl, although the company has not done so. Apple was rumored to be working on a commercial for this past year's Super Bowl, but instead chose to partner with U2 and Bank of America for a Product (RED) promotion.

Top Rated Comments

rdlink Avatar
rdlink
156 months ago
I'm sorry to say that, but this is one of the reasons why others think Americans are shallow and dumb. You need to see lots of scoring to get excited. This diminishes everything else that's going on in the game. You don't see the skill that goes into defending, or breaking that solid defense. You don't see the philosophy and tactics that teams have in their DNAs. You miss all the excitement and disappointment a single goal causes, or the fear or hope that a goal may happen. You have scores and scores and more scores that is kind of boring for almost anyone outside of US. At the end, one team scores more than the other to win the game. It's almost guaranteed that there won't be any kind of excitement that is comparable to a single goal in a real football game. A football fan remembers a crucial save by a goalkeeper 30-50 years after it happened because a single save maybe really, really important. All you will remember will be statistics made by faceless athletes.

It's also disturbing to see families let their sons do this "sport" knowing that it will make them heavy (I'm trying to be polite here) and cause them a brain damage. I find American football one of the reasons why Americans get large and heavy instead of getting fit, strong and nimble. In real football you don't see any overweight players and they are certainly not allowed to hit each other on the head.

And I don't understand why Silicon Valley companies that need a smart generation of Americans to design and use their smart devices promote something that makes young men stupid.

Also...
Image (http://betsportsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/football_vs_soccer_xlarge.jpeg)

Good points. But here's a third viewpoint: They're both boring sports, played by a bunch of entitled prima donnas, and watched by overzealous whack-os.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
keysofanxiety
156 months ago
World Cup is bigger...bla bla bla...Futbol is better than football...bla bla bla. This debate pops up every four years. Sick of it.
It's not really much of a debate, it's fact. American sports are practically only watched/followed in America. The football (soccer) World Cup is watched globally.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
Supermacguy
156 months ago
Good on them to pay the extra costs. Football as a private enterprise should not have to rely on public financing for their stadiums or other activities. Lord knows they make enough money.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
keysofanxiety
156 months ago
I don't care if its a debate or not. Football may not be as loved internationally, but it is a much larger business than soccer. Close to $10B in revenue.

It really, really isn't a much larger business. Simply the top 3 football teams in the world (clubs, not countries) exceed that $10B revenue by themselves ...

... not to mention transfer costs for players regularly exceed £20 million. I don't really want to have this argument but I fear you've been misinformed.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
DaveHuck
156 months ago
So if the Super Bowl is held in the following cities, here are the possible items to offset the cost of hosting:

• Detroit - A 1973 Ford Pinto, a Temptations Greatest Hits CD and a bag of weed.

• Miami - 3000 gallons of sunscreen and a brick of cocaine.

• Meadowlands - Snookie

• Oakland - Bulletproof jackets for all attendees
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T
TWSS37
156 months ago
So if the Super Bowl is held in the following cities, here are the possible items to offset the cost of hosting:

• Detroit - A 1973 Ford Pinto, a Temptations Greatest Hits CD and a bag of weed.

• Miami - 3000 gallons of sunscreen and a brick of cocaine.

• Meadowlands - Snookie

• Oakland - Bulletproof jackets for all attendees

MacRumors pls bring back downvote button
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Read Full Article
Instagram Feature 2

PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

Tuesday May 5, 2026 8:24 am PDT by
Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users from May 8, 2026. When the date comes around, Meta will potentially be able to see the contents of all messages between users on the social media platform. Encrypting messages has been an optional feature in Instagram since 2023, but in March of this year the social media platform quietly updated a help page to say ...
Read Full Article • 54 comments
Apple Event Logo

Apple Just Released a New Accessory

Monday May 4, 2026 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today released a new Pride Edition Sport Loop for the Apple Watch. The band features a rainbow design with 11 colors of woven nylon yarns. The new Pride Edition Sport Loop is available to order now on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 40mm, 42mm, and 46mm sizes, and it will be available at Apple Store locations starting later this week. In the U.S., the band costs $49. There...
Read Full Article