Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a second media buyer noted that the quality of the Super Bowl matchup and the competitiveness of the game can’t be predicted.
“Even when ratings are down, the Super Bowl remains the most-watched television event of the year,” the buyer said. “Advertisers pay for that visibility and for the cultural currency that comes from having an ad in the Big Game, regardless of ratings fluctuations.”
Do all Super Bowl advertisers pay $8 million per ad?
Schwartz said that every year for the past five years, the Super Bowl has sold out quicker. For instance, this year sold out around August, which he said was the earliest that the game has sold out.
“Since [Fox] sold so many spots during the traditional upfront period, anyone who came in that did not come in during the upfront period was paying more and more money,” Schwartz said. “That’s why it’s being touted everywhere that each ad is $8 million, while last year was $7 million.”
Of course, advertisers that have historically been in the Super Bowl usually pay less than the headline-grabbing amounts. Some may have multiyear exclusive deals with the broadcasting networks, as well, so pricing can vary among brands.
Does a Super Bowl blowout affect pricing?
Even when there’s a blowout, buyers said that doesn’t typically have much of an impact on pricing, since it can’t be predicted ahead of time.
“There’s no compensation for that because there are no audience guarantees with a Super Bowl buy the way there are with most TV buys,” the second buyer said. “It’s a risk the advertiser takes, and most years, it’s a much closer game, and viewership is more stable throughout. In any case, it’s most likely still the highest-rated program of the year, even at a low point.”
The Super Bowl also has some resilience to blowouts.
Showing that point, data from TV measurement and analytics company EDO shows that Jeep’s two-minute ad with Harrison Ford, which aired during the fourth quarter, ranked eighth overall for most engaging ads, with 6.4 times as much engagement as the median-performing Super Bowl LIX ad, according to EDO’s Super Bowl 59 ad ranker.
“The fact that it still grew at halftime has a lot to do with the talent, but it’s not really going to affect my negotiation with NBC because it was up X percent year over year,” a third buyer said. “We have a base from this year. We know what we paid. It’s all a negotiation.”
