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The Super Bowl is typically the most-watched broadcast in the U.S. every year, so it’s no surprise that brands are willing to spend big bucks to advertise during the big game.
At least 100 million people are expected to tune in to next weekend’s Super Bowl 2025, taking place Sunday, Feb. 9 in New Orleans. Last year’s game was the most-watched telecast in U.S. history with 123.7 million viewers, or over a third of the U.S. population.
This year, as viewers catch the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles, and see Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance, brands taking advantage of the huge captive audience are estimated to have paid some hefty prices.
The cost for a 30-second spot during this year’s game has surged, with at least 10 commercials going for about $8 million apiece, Variety reported.
Fox (FOXA), which is airing the game, initially sought around $7 million for a 30-second slot and had already sold most of its Super Bowl LIX ad inventory by last August. Yet, demand remained strong even after CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced during the company’s third-quarter investor call that all the ad slots were officially sold out. Some advertisers later withdrew from their deals, enabling Fox to resell those spots at even higher prices
“What was unique to this Super Bowl, or this marketplace, was we had a lot more people that weren’t in the game at all, all of a sudden be like, no, no, I have to get in the game,” Fox Sports’ head of ad sales Mark Evans told the Sports Business Journal.
This $8 million figure represents an increase of 88% from a decade ago — and a more than 20,000% jump from the first-ever Super Bowl. A 30-second Super Bowl ad cost $4.25 million in 2015 and just $37,500 in 1967, according USA Today’s (GCI) Ad Meter.
What viewers can expect
Brands are already starting to tease viewers with previews of what they’ll see on Sunday night.
Some noteworthy spots include the millennial telehealth company Hims & Hers (HIMS) advertising its lower-cost weight-loss treatments and Kitchenware brand HexClad promoting its pots with chef Gordon Ramsey and comedian Pete Davidson.