Super Bowl commercial prices hit $8 million for the first time

Super Bowl commercial time surpassed $8 million for 30 seconds of airtime for a handful of in-game spots on Fox, according to a source with knowledge of the dealmaking. This comes after demand for the game, airing Feb. 9 on Fox and Tubi, was higher than ever, causing Fox to implement a waitlist for brands vying for inventory. “I’ve seen average marketplaces, I’ve seen challenged marketplaces, I’ve seen strong marketplaces,” said Mark Evans, head of ad sales for Fox Sports. “This one is far and away, on every measurable metric, the best we’ve had by a long shot.” Evans declined to comment on specific pricing for commercial time. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here Ad buyers have echoed the rise of demand for this year’s Super Bowl, Ad Age previously reported, with one calling it the strongest of their multi-decade career. Since announcing the game had sold out in November, Fox has resold about 10 in-game spots, according to Evans. The ad turnover is attributable to various factors, such as economic outlooks for individual brands, as well as State Farm’s withdrawal from the game, which freed up two spots, per Evans. In an average year, those late pull-outs would be hard to sell given the price of Super Bowl inventory but this year’s openings would re-sell instantly, Evans said. Upfront pricing for a 30-second spot in this year’s Super Bowl started in the range of $7 million, Ad Age previously reported. As demand grew, Fox escalated pricing, first to $7.5 million and later became the first Super Bowl seller to hit $8 million, according to a source with knowledge of dealmaking. Factoring in the recent waitlist sales, Fox sold more than 10 spots at or over $8 million, according to the source. Viewers will see an even balance of familiar categories in Super Bowl LIX: beverages, salty snacks, autos, quick-service restaurants and telecommunications providers, said Evans. The categories that have shown the most growth are tech, particularly ads hawking the latest AI products, as well as pharmaceuticals, which Evans said has traditionally held a small portion of Big Game share but grew this year. (Novartis will make its Super Bowl debut with a breast cancer awareness ad and direct-to-consumer brand Hims & Hers will promote weight loss drugs in its first Big Game buy.) Evans said travel continues to grow post-pandemic. The only category that has decreased in air time is entertainment. Evans said to expect less marketing from movie studios and streamers, which he attributes to a rocky post-pandemic recovery for movies as well as continued setbacks from 2023’s Hollywood strikes. Related news: Inside Disney’s movie marketing strategy Otherwise, Evans said viewers shouldn’t expect too many surprises when it comes to which brands show up in the Super Bowl, though a noticeable collection of emerging marketers “have gotten to the place in their life cycle where they’re ready to play with the big boys.” Super Bowl LIX will be the first game simulcast on Tubi, Fox’s free ad-supported streamer. Evans said it is unclear how the Tubi audience will impact viewership for the game, particularly as Tubi users are more than half Gen Z or millennials and 77% don’t have access to cable. As such, Evans anticipates the added platform will boost viewership rather than split it. Read more: Tubi’s Super Bowl ad strategy Overall, Evans said the strength of the ad market for this year’s Super Bowl is attributable to the “natural migration of legacy cable and linear network dollars that have been thrown up in the air” and haven’t been solidly committed to a certain budget. While some spend is transitioning to streaming and digital, both have a “saturation point,” according to Evans, adding that live sports has been the answer in placing dollars against fast, aggregate viewership. The lift for live sports in TV’s transition has impacted more than the Super Bowl. Evans noted growing demand for Fox’s postseason baseball, college football, NFL regular season and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. “We knew a World Cup in North America was going to be a tremendous event that a bunch of marketers were going to be on,” said Evans. “But to see this many marketers this far in advance—we’ve already done a ton of deals two years, a year and a half in advance, at volume levels that are, quite frankly, significantly higher than we would have anticipated back when we were building out our plan, so we started escalating price there.”

Super Bowl commercial prices hit $8 million for the first time

Featured Stories