No, Sex Trafficking will not Spike During the Super Bowl, but Harmful Police Actions will

February 7, 2025

Want to hear an outright lie told often around this time of year? Here’s one: the Super Bowl is “the single largest human-trafficking incident in the United States.” This 100% false statement, lacking any evidence, was made in 2011 by Texas’ then Attorney-General, now Governor Greg Abbott, before Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas. Abbott asserted, “the Super Bowl is the greatest show on Earth, but it also has an ugly underbelly.” The alleged underbelly is the false narrative that sex trafficking massively spikes in whichever host city is welcoming thousands of football fans traveling to watch the big game. Sound vaguely familiar? Perhaps it’s because for decades, in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, the media and politicians have repeated false claims and raised the alarm in headlines, linking major sporting events with increased sex trafficking. In response, federal, state, and local governments plan elaborate, expensive sting operations to stop trafficking during the Super Bowl. The truth is that these police stings not only fail to stop sex trafficking itself but actually hurt both trafficking victims and consensual sex workers in the process.

So no, sex trafficking does not spike during the Super Bowl, and this myth that it does is not only damaging but dangerous as well. Sure, the Super Bowl brings together crowds of people, with many fans focused on the game and others seeking out the services of sex workers in the host city. Yet a critical distinction that gets lost in the hype and headlines: sex work is not sex trafficking. Sex work is performed by fully consenting adults, and sex trafficking is performed by minors (who cannot legally consent to any type of sex work) or adults who are being subjected to force, fraud, or coercion. The conflation of these terms is the basis for the persistent and harmful myth, and the difference between the two can often be a matter of life or death, and it’s on all of us to know the facts if we care about protecting people from trafficking.

As experts on human trafficking and the human rights of people in the sex industry, we at Woodhull Freedom Foundation and Freedom Network USA care about both sex workers and people exploited by sex trafficking. Super Bowl preparations from government officials at the federal, state, and local levels often include multi-day trainings that rely on materials that muddle indicators of trafficking with behaviors common for sex workers. But the research tells us that these ‘indicators’ are useless at identifying sex trafficking. Regarding sporting events, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) noted that “…there is no evidence that large sporting events cause an increase in trafficking.” Freedom Network USA addressed the real dangers of the Super Bowl in 2021. And Woodhull’s Fact Checked also uncovers the lies head-on by detailing the origins of the Super Bowl sex trafficking myth, why it became a fixture in media reporting, and the wealth of research debunking it. Even organizations that oppose sex worker rights and seek to abolish the consensual sex trade have admitted the Super Bowl does not increase trafficking.

Unfortunately, what we do see, and what many of our allies working on the ground with sex workers grapple with every year in host cities, is a major spike in police activity leading to arrests of consensual adult sex workers. So while the intention may be to combat trafficking, the increased arrests around Super Bowls do more harm than good to both trafficking survivors and consensual sex workers in multiple ways:

1. First, these operations cost millions of dollars that would be much better spent on education, social services, housing, and other services for trafficking survivors or prevention programs to stop trafficking. Trafficking survivors across the U.S. are on waiting lists for safe housing, legal representation, and medical and mental health services. Wasting money on Super Bowl ads and police officers working overtime for unsuccessful publicity stunts is literally stealing food from the mouths of survivors.
2. Second, despite the number of arrests reported, almost no human trafficking charges are ever brought after these operations. If these expensive operations are not resulting in charges against trafficking perpetrators, then it’s an ineffective use of resources.
3. Third, these operations leave sex workers and trafficking victims trapped in a cycle of poverty and abuse. Criminal records and the trauma of incarceration make it harder for them to get a better job, find safe housing, and even access education. Landlords, employers, schools, scholarship programs, and accreditation bodies routinely use criminal record checks, leaving sex workers and trafficking survivors unable to provide for themselves and their families. Instead of arrests, sex trafficking victims need services and support.
4. Fourth, these operations ignore the rampant labor trafficking endemic to professional sports. From the workers building and operating stadiums, to those cleaning and maintaining the hotels for players and fans, to trafficking of athletes in the U.S. and worldwide; labor trafficking victims, especially children, are ignored and abandoned in the glare of the spotlight on the sex trafficking myth.

To address the harm caused by increased policing targeting sex workers, organizations like Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) Behind Bars have started bail bond funds to support workers swept up in the Super Bowl fervor. Woodhull’s Fact Checked series puts out accurate data to ensure the public and law enforcement understand the ramifications of continuing the Super Bowl sex trafficking myth. Freedom Network USA’s Survivor Reentry Project supports over 200 trafficking survivors to clear criminal records that have resulted from their harrowing experiences, including arrests from some of these Super Bowl sting operations. But the process is long and difficult, and can take years for survivors to clear their records, which may include charges in multiple states.

So then, what can you do? Educate your friends, family, and community about the real truth of sex trafficking and sex work. Share the harms caused by unnecessary increased policing under the false narrative of reducing sex trafficking. Call it out when you hear sex trafficking and sex work being used interchangeably. Provide your time and talents to local and national anti-trafficking organizations that are working to protect all workers, serve survivors, and prevent trafficking.

And what can policymakers, the media, and the police do? Stop spreading the myths that lead to overzealous criminalization and incarceration. These arrests don’t keep the public safe or stop human trafficking. Sex workers and human trafficking survivors need and deserve policies that address the root causes of exploitation. This requires actions from government officials and law enforcement not just one weekend a year but every day to reduce people’s vulnerabilities to human trafficking, including protecting human rights and ensuring everyone has access to safe and affordable housing, social services, and healthcare. If we want to end trafficking, we need anti-trafficking initiatives informed by the research and the facts – not viral headlines.