Thirty second spots in this year’s Super Bowl went for at least $6.5 million as the official broadcaster opened inventory to new categories of advertisers.
NBCUniversal’s ask is at least $US1 million up on CBS’s charge last year when the telecast audience was around 100 million.
The National Football League’s 56th Super Bowl is due to be held February 13 at SoFi Stadium in California. Ticket packages for the game start at $5,950 a head.
The halftime performance, sponsored by Pepsi, will feature Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.
Todd Kaplan, VP of Marketing, Pepsi: "The Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show has become a landmark cultural moment, bringing about some of the most iconic performances over the years – from JLo and Shakira to Lady Gaga to The Weeknd – and we are thrilled to bring together such an incredible array of talented, record-breaking musicians to put on a performance for the ages."
Advertisers are expected to take a more upbeat tone in their commercials than those of 2021 which ran in the shadow of a US presidential election as well as restrictions from COVID-19.
Dan Lovinger, NBC Sports advertising sales chief, in September announced that spots had almost sold out.
“The pregame show and inventory for the day of the Super Bowl is also extremely well sold,” he said.
“What I can tell you about the Super Bowl is that it’s an interesting mix of the categories you would expect, the largest categories being auto, beverage, entertainment, putting more sort of as a broader group now when you combine theatrical, which is back from obvious COVID impacted presence, to some of the streamers. So the entertainment category I would put in the top three.
“As far as new, we talked about the legalised sports betting, and also digital wallets and crypto currency is a new category that’s seen some interest.”
Among the new advertisers will be Crypto.com, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency site.
Squarespace is among the regulars and Avocados from Mexico, which sat out the game last year, is back.
Crypto.com is currently running a commercial, Fortune Favours the Brave, featuring Academy Award winner Matt Damon.
It’s part of a $100 million advertising campaign directed by Oscar winner (for Inception) Wally Pfister.
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