GLENDALE, Ariz. — Tens of thousands traveled to the Valley for Super Bowl LVII, but businesses in the city that hosted the Big Game expected more.
In previous years, shops and restaurants say the Super Bowl didn't bring a lot of people to downtown Glendale. This year, for some, it was different.
“We were swamped,” Tyler Mada with Pizza Old Roma said talking about the days leading up to Sunday.
While the pizza shop was closed on Super Bowl Mada says they sold more pies than ever.
“It was much much busier than we previously anticipated,” Mada said. "We set yearly records from the year before.”
Haus Murphy's, the historic staple of the area serving authentic German food for nearly three decades, also saw a boost in business, telling 12News that close to half of the customers coming in through their door were from out of town and were in Glendale for the game.
“It was still a steady increase just because of the time of the year,” Dustin Ward, the front-of-house manager, said.
That wasn't the case for everyone. Kelli List, the owner of Saguaro Grill, said while they saw increased foot traffic, it wasn't the boom they were anticipating. The same goes for Knokies Fashion.
“It wasn’t really that big of a boom for me,” said co-owner Clint Newsom.
He also noticed more people walking around downtown but that was it. Feeling more like a typical week than one where the Super Bowl was in town.
"It wasn’t as much as I expected,” Newsom said.
Believing that Glendale should host more NFL-related events to promote to bring people in. Instead of them being held in Phoenix.
“Historic downtown Glendale is a beautiful place and people should come and experience down here,” Newsom said.
Hoping the next time Super Bowl will be held at State Farm Stadium it will be different.
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