Business

Can You Guess How Much a Super Bowl Commerical Will Cost This Year?

Even though the economy has been operating well below everyone’s hopes and expectations (to put it mildly), available TV spots for Super Bowl XLVI not only sold out, as they usually do around this time of year, but they also set a record in cost.

Major companies are paying over $3.5 million for a single 30-second spot, up from roughly $3 million last year, according the Wall Street Journal.

“Ad prices for the big game, the most expensive real estate on TV, have shot up 59 percent since 2001, when a spot sold for roughly $2.2 million,” writes the Journal’s Suzanne Vranica.

Of course this increase in ad prices only emphasizes how important this major viewing event has become — especially considering how much cable and television audiences have shrunk in proportion to the amount of content that has become available online.

“The NFL continues to be the gold standard of all programming,” said Seth Winter, senior vice president of sales and marketing for NBC Sports, in a major understatement.

And he’s right. Last year’s game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers attracted over 111 million viewers, according to Nielsen Co. It was the second year in a row that the Super Bowl set a record as the most-watched telecast.

With numbers like that, and with a sputtering economy, it’s no wonder that the Super Bowl can be something of an “all of nothing” gamble for some companies. If they are able to finance the TV spot, then they are able to reach literally the largest audience possible in the U.S.

So, who can viewers expect to be wowed—or disappointed—come Feb. 5?

“GM, Volkswagen, first-timer Dannon yogurt, Teleflora, M&M, Pepsi, and Coke, among others,”  writes Kate Schwartz of Newser. “Anheuser-Busch InBev will, of course, be in the house, with a sizable four and a half minutes of airtime.”

Comments (26)

  • pmjr-jones
    Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:02pm

    whomever pays for it will go bankrupt within the year or shut down solme subsidiaries so to ask for more taxes!? lobbyists

    Report Post »  
  • lynda1276
    Posted on January 4, 2012 at 6:37pm

    i know it seems crazy but it has to pay off or they wouldn’t do it

    Report Post »  
  • nilo
    Posted on January 4, 2012 at 3:51pm

    I normally don’t watch commericals, rather I surf the channels while they are on. I have developed great timing as to when to switch back on to what I was watching.

    Report Post » nilo  
  • Dave In Arizona
    Posted on January 4, 2012 at 2:37pm

    Too much. Companies will need to raise prices to recover the cost.

    Report Post » Dave In Arizona  
  • SillyStan
    Posted on January 4, 2012 at 12:41pm

    It’s $4 million – http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/top-super-bowl-ad-goes-for-4m-as-inventory-sells-out/

    Report Post » SillyStan  
  • Rowgue
    Posted on January 4, 2012 at 12:38pm

    This will start moving in the other direction soon. They got so expensive because there was a period there where people were literally watching the superbowl specifically for the commercials, because they were often more entertaining than the mediocre football that was being played. There aren’t very many good superbowl spots anymore though, people don’t watch just to see the crazy commercials anymore. The advertisers will start to realize that when they continue to waste ten million dollars to put a spot on the air and don’t realize any measureable return on their investment.

    Report Post »  
  • oldsoldier10
    Posted on January 4, 2012 at 8:09am

    Who cares what anything will cost, you know if we quit watching the groomed from inception ball carrying morons and quit paying them billions of dollars, I bet the commercials would cost significantly less. I bet if we pay our teachers, soldiers, firemen, and police a few dollars more and the BALL GAME playing micro minority in this country less, we could have a better country, where people aren’t beaten for some cheap Korean made Air Jordan knock offs in a Mall of America. Where our college students aren’t assaulted for the shoes on their feet. Any human with a little objectivity would look at TV sports and say, “Why am I wasting my time watching this crap?” when they could spend a few minutes with their kid teaching them, how the multiplication tables work or how to ride a bike. Quit wasting your time American on ball playing narcissist sycophants that make money to play with balls.

    Report Post » oldsoldier10  
    • smithclar3nc3
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 9:02am

      I see pro-sports as the 21st century version of the Colosseum game the roman empire used the entertain it people while it’s society crumbled. I find myself watching less and less of the grand spectacles as I see it as an attempt to distract the citizens of the Republic from the gaint unconstitutional government growth that is taking place. Couple that with the FACT that madonna and all her AMERICA BASHING SELF is the half-time show and I can guarantee I‘ll won’t be watch the SUPER-BOWL.
      I too agree that sports should be removed from grade schools and place more academics.
      I don’t think more money should go to teachers,firemen or police.

      Report Post »  
    • tajloc
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 9:32am

      It all sounds so “good” Lets just adjust everyone’s rec needs to match the needs of society. BUT that is the way we are running things now. The people who want better for their lives and for their children are doing the things. We don’t give the rest football they take it. What we need is a spiritual revolution not you (or anyone else….O) making those decision. You sir just don’t get it. Don‘t turn off the world’s most productive engine that has produced the highest standard of living ‘cuz you want to run it.
      Rom 8:28

      Report Post »  
    • Bluefish49
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 9:44am

      Now that I know who is performing at half time I wont be watching anyway….

      Report Post »  
    • smithclar3nc3
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 10:46am

      Don‘t turn off the world’s most productive engine that has produced the highest standard of living ‘cuz you want to run it.

      WTH are you bathering about. No one said stop production fact is production should increase and it should natural born American at every level of it from the lowest to the highest positions.

      Report Post »  
    • Diomasach
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 11:51am

      Right, because if people stopped enjoying sports and spending thier hard-earned money on something they enjoy that would magically equate to more spending on teachers, polce, and firefighters…

      You really are clueless aren’t you?

      Football players get paid what they do because people enjoy watching them compete and support the sport freely with their own money. It’s called Liberty, try it some time.

      Report Post »  
  • Reload
    Posted on January 4, 2012 at 7:54am

    I hope the comercials are better this year than in recent years. Although the the Darth Vader Kid car commercial was pretty cute and clever, most have sucked.

    Terry Tate: Office Linebacker is one of the best ones that i can remember.

    Report Post » Reload  
  • TXPilot
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:24pm

    I quit watching the NFL years ago, and now I just have fond memories of pro football back in the 1970s, when the players had a bit of class and the game actually meant something. Thank goodness for college football……

    Report Post » TXPilot  
  • Eric_The_Red_State
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:13pm

    Who cares – Vote John McCain in 2012

    Report Post » Eric_The_Red_State  
    • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:29pm

      Let’s vote for Ren and Stimpy, or as most people call it, the democrat party.

      Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 2:39am

      Can You Guess How Much a Super Bowl Commerical Will Cost This Year?

      Can you guess how little I care? (You spelled commercial incorrectly)

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:50pm

    I have to agree with you there.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:48pm

    More than liposuction for moochelles butt, and less than what Obama spends in a day.

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
    • ooooonooooo
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:06pm

      they should play this award winning video on the failure of the obama presidency during halftime
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6hvmWDYiCY

      Report Post »  
    • MEANS2RESIST
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:27pm

      And once again, the momentum of the game will be delayed an extra 20 minutes @ half time so that another has been pop star can sing a couple songs while dozens of teenie boppers paid in soda & frankfurters can jump around yelling and screaming. This year I think its going to be Madonna.

      It doesn’t matter who advertises & for how much, I don’t buy the top brands anyway & I won’t be watching.

      Report Post » MEANS2RESIST  
    • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 12:03am

      The game we will be playing this year is counting how many young guys they will have in the crowd pretending to drool over Madonna. And how many bruises the has on her knees from where her boobs knock into them. We might even freeze the HD screen on her close ups and play “Connect the liver spots”.

      Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
    • your sensei
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 9:38pm

      OOOOONOOOOO . . . better yet, this one

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owrh2rpCleg

      Report Post » your sensei  
  • randy
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:44pm

    Wonder if we’ll have to see another Obama commercial during the Superbowl?
    Oh wait, I won’t because I stopped watching those crybaby Ghetto Thugs a couple of years ago.

    Report Post » randy  
  • democritusoilder267
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:41pm

    Looks like I’m in the wrong carer field.

    Report Post » democritusoilder267  

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