Wave goodbye to 2015. It’s time to embrace the New Year and look ahead with anticipation (or trepidation) toward what’s to come. Just a few of the questions that will be answered during the course of the year include: Will viewers deem any of the Super Bowl ads worthy of their hefty price tag? Will the 2016 Summer Olympic Games put host country Brazil on a course for sustainable economic growth, or will it intensify the country’s social and economic issues? Will the United States have its first female president? Below are a few significant dates in 2016, including some that will provide answers to these and other burning questions.
February 7
The NFL’s top two teams will line up for Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, in Santa Clara, Calif. While the outcome of the game is still to be determined, one winner is already celebrating: broadcaster CBS, which is charging advertisers $5 million for a 30-second spot. Last year’s Super Bowl thriller between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, aired by NBC, was the most watched broadcast in the history of U.S. television with 114.4 million viewers on average.
February 29
2016 is a leap year! The good news: You have one more day this year. The bad news: It’s a Monday.
March 23
The much anticipated superhero showdown, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, debuts in theaters. Does the Caped Crusader/Bruce Wayne/Ben Affleck actually have a chance against The Man of Steel/Clark Kent/Henry Cavill?
July 4
NASA’s unmanned spacecraft Juno is expected to arrive at the planet Jupiter after a five-year trek. The spacecraft will settle into orbit for a planned 20-month information-gathering mission.
In addition, the United States will celebrate the 240th anniversary of its independence. Americans will celebrate by spending approximately $700 million on fireworks, more than $200 million on hamburger patties and approximately $1 billion on beer.
August 5
The Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro kick off with the opening ceremony. Will Brazilian soccer icon Pelé be the chosen one to light the Olympic cauldron? Can 30-year-old U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, add to his record 18 gold medals?
November 8
The U.S. presidential election will decide the country’s 45th chief executive. In 2015, Donald Trump proved to doubters that his hair was real. Whether the same can be said of his presidential candidacy is still too early to say, as of this writing. In 2008, the United States elected its first African-American president. Will Hillary Clinton follow as the country’s first female president?
Mark your calendars, stay tuned and best wishes for the New Year.
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Larry Gray is editorial director of Institutional Real Estate, Inc.
