X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, has been selling special ad packages tied to the National Football League playoffs and Super Bowl, which include video ads that run before NFL highlight videos, an effort to use the U.S.’s most popular sporting event to lure back major advertisers.

The packages range in price from $250,000 for video spots that run before highlights of the two conference championship games last month, to $1 million for ads during the playoffs schedule through the final game, according to people familiar with the deals, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public.

X sold its most important ad slot, known as “first look,” to BetMGM, the online sportsbook, according to people familiar with the arrangement. This means BetMGM’s advertisements appear on X right near the top of users’ feeds when they first open the service, and also at the top of the app’s search and trending sections, placements that typically cost several million dollars.

That ad purchase is part of a broader partnership between X and BetMGM announced Friday. The accord includes adding BetMGM’s live point spreads in the X app, though users will not be able to place wagers through the social network and will have to go to the sportsbook instead. X users in the U.S. will get access to betting odds on pro football first, with each of the major professional and college sports expected to follow in the coming weeks, BetMGM said in a separate statement. 

The Super Bowl, which will be held Sunday in Las Vegas, has historically been the most important day of the year for X. The NFL championship contest drives a frenzy of posts before and during the game and boosts new sign-ups, and is usually the biggest event of the year for X’s advertising sales team.

The big game could help answer an important question for X’s business: Can a major global sporting event still bring A-list advertisers to the platform? 

This year’s matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs could provide even more of a test for X than in years past given that some of the company’s top brand advertisers have paused spending on the platform over the past year, with many citing concerns about X’s content policies and moderation. Once dominated by the world’s largest technology, entertainment and consumer brand companies, X ads now regularly feature many smaller or more obscure businesses.

In addition to BetMGM, posts on X leading up to Sunday’s game indicate that several other household names have purchased some of the pre-roll video advertising packages. Oreo, the cookie brand owned by Mondelēz International Inc., was running some pre-roll video ads—marketing clips that run before a post’s main video begins—alongside NFL content this week. So were DraftKings and Bet365, two competing sportsbooks. Other big brands, including PepsiCo Inc.’s Frito-Lay and Mtn Dew brands, were running ads related to the Super Bowl this week, but not specifically tied to NFL highlights.

Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X, declined to comment on the price of ad packages, but said that X has “over 100 large advertisers” who bought ads related to the Super Bowl this year. 

X’s advertising business has been hurting since Elon Musk took over the social networking company in October 2022. Several major advertisers have been turned off by Musk’s own posts and behavior as owner, which has made them reluctant to be seen working with the company. In December, Musk spoke at the DealBook conference in New York, and apologized for sharing support for an antisemitic tweet, which had pushed some major advertisers to pause spending on the service. He then almost immediately told advertisers who had were boycotting to “go f—- yourself” from that same stage just minutes later. 

X has tried to lure some marketers back, and Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino sent an email to current and former advertisers earlier this month asking them to return by promoting the company’s support for several child safety bills currently pending in U.S. Congress.

The company’s advertising revenue declined significantly in 2023 from years prior. Before Musk’s DealBook appearance, ad revenue was expected to be around $2.5 billion for the year, just over half of the total from a few years prior, the company’s last full year before Musk arrived.

—Bloomberg News