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Macy’s has long said it considers the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade its “annual gift to the nation,” but it has never indicated whether it’s losing significant money on the event, close to breaking even, or notching a profit some years.
The spectacle, privately funded by Macy’s, comes at an exorbitant cost, with the 97th edition in 2023 including 16 featured character balloons, 26 floats, 32 heritage and novelty balloons, more than 700 clowns, 12 marching bands, and nine performance groups.
A 2016 appraisal from the online shopping site Rakuten estimated that the annual costs for the parade are between $10.4 million and $12.3 million, while a more up-to-date estimate comes from GoBankingRates.com in 2022 and says the cost for the parade “can exceed $13 million.”
Among the costs:
- Filling every balloon with helium costs a minimum of $510,000. For sponsors, a new balloon costs $190,000, which is reduced to $90,000 for each returning year.
- Costumes (i.e., clowns, gingerbread kids, sugar plum fairies, and Santa and his helpers) carry estimated annual costs of $2 million.
- 26 full-time workers and around 14 temporary workers (i.e., painters, construction workers, metal workers, and sculptors) are paid a combined $1.3 million.
Time is another cost, as the parade requires 3,000 balloon handlers, all Macy’s employees. Each undergoes three months of balloon handling training.
Many of the monetary costs are offset by broadcast rights. The 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade earned a 7.2 rating in the 18-49 demo and had 27.7 million viewers — including digital, streaming on Peacock, and encore viewing — which is the most total viewers in five years, according to Nielsen.
Cher and Jon Batiste are two of the headlining performers for this year’s parade, and actors from multiple Broadway shows, including "Back to the Future: The Musical,” will be performing as well.
"A brand chooses to participate because of the exposure of the parade — it's not about the financial ROI," Jordan Dabby, VP of partnership marketing at Macy's, told Ad Age. "They're doing it to connect with fans."
Funding the parade comes as Macy’s in 2020 announced plans to close at least 125 stores over the following three years and eliminate about 2,000 jobs after a similar move in 2016 amid persistent challenges facing the department store model.
Nonetheless, a 2019 Footwear News article found benefits from Macy’s continued sponsorship. Jim Cusson, president of retail marketing agency Theory House, told the publication, “It’s an opportunity for Macy’s to confirm their place in American culture by supporting the parade — and in the busiest shopping season of the year, it gives them this unique opportunity to stand out above all the other retailers based on that sponsorship.”