Super Bowl spurs Airbnb frenzy

Over one million football fans are expected to travel to San Francisco for the Super Bowl on February 7, and as such, local residents who have never considered renting out their homes on Airbnb before are being tempted. According to the Guardian: “The going price for renting out a luxury house near where the champion football game will be played can exceed the country’s median per capita income of $28,155. The promise of that kind of payday is prompting some homeowners to test the waters of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb for the first time.”

One million people are expected to travel to the San Francisco Bay area for Super Bowl 50, and some residents are hoping to spin their homes into gold.

The going price for renting out a luxury house near where the champion football game will be played can exceed the country’s median per capita income of $28,155. The promise of that kind of payday is prompting some homeowners to test the waters of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb for the first time.

“If someone wants to pay us a bunch [of] silly money for the Super Bowl, we’ll go stay at my mother’s for a few days,” said Michael, who is listing his family’s five-bedroom home (featuring a swimming pool, workout room, and Buddhist statuary in a 1.5-acre garden) in tony Hillsborough for $7,000 a night on Airbnb.

Asking for a minimum stay of four nights, Michael is pessimistic that anyone will bite. He’s never rented his home on Airbnb before but says many of his friends and neighbors are interested in taking a flyer on the Super Bowl.

(Several people interviewed asked that their last names be withheld because Airbnb is so contentious in San Francisco.)

“I heard the Travelodge was charging $1,100/night,” he said. “That is more crazy.”

The choicest chateau on offer may be a 4,500sq ft house with a heated pool, daily maid service, and five-acre estate listed on Craigslist for $50,001 for the week (3 February to 8 February). The suburban house in Saratoga has been sitting on the market with an asking price of almost $5m, so a quick injection of cash would probably be welcome by the owners, though the listing agent declined to comment.

Lest you think that $50,000 rental price is all inclusive, the advertisement warns that any “very ‘High Profile’ Person” wishing to rent should “supply your own security team”.

Serena is another first-time Airbnb host to be tempted by the promise of Super Bowl riches. She’s advertising her four-bedroom home in San Mateo at $6,500 a night. If she finds a taker, she says her family will head out of town to visit her daughter at college and use the money to pay for her children’s summer travels.



Though Airbnb doesn’t have statistics on how many people have been spurred by the big game to sign up as hosts for the first time, the San Francisco-based startup says that demand for Super Bowl pads in its home turf is three times higher than it was for the 2015 championship, which was held in Arizona.

The five-acre estate listed on Craigslist for $50,001 for the week of the Super Bowl. Photograph: Craigslist

Still, some longtime Airbnb hosts aren’t sure they would accept a Super Bowl renter. Stephanie regularly rents a single bedroom in her four-bedroom home in the Mission district for $150 a night.

Her family was already planning to be out of town during the Super Bowl, so, at the urging of friends, she’s listing the entire home for $5,000 a night. Still, she’s not sure that she even wants to rent it.

“I’m not that interested in having random people in my house when I’m not at home, so it’s listed at a super high price,” she said. “Even if we get inquiries, we would have to think hard about whether to accept them.”

Others are purposely eschewing the price-gouging that accompanies major events.

Ryan, who also didn’t want his last name used, offers beds in an apartment in Sunnyvale for just $29 a night. He says he doesn’t want to let a big event like the Super Bowl “deter or affect the ongoing culture and dynamics of the environment, which is to promote the entrepreneurial spirit”.

Nathan, who rents out bunkbeds in Palo Alto, is also keeping his prices at their normal $35 per night rate. Asked why he wasn’t taking advantage of the Super Bowl to make more money, he responded: “Because I’m highly selective. I only take people who are associated with Stanford.”

There’s also the question of karma.

Jazen, a verified Airbnb “Superhost” with properties in Mountain View and Sunnyvale, is keeping his normal rates – which range from $60 for a single room to $169 for a two-bedroom. He caters to business travelers in the tech industry and wants to keep it that way. “I’ve actually been rejecting a lot of inquiries from Super Bowl spectators and prefer not to host them,” he said, pointing out that his rooms don’t include televisions and he “personally [has] no interest in most mainstream sports”.



“Obnoxious price-gouging may invite obnoxious guests, so I avoid it altogether.”

