Advertising inventory for Super Bowl LV, which CBS will broadcast on February 7, has virtually sold out.
ViacomCBS confirmed the status of sales and said a 30-second spot has commanded about $5.5 million, roughly in line with rates for last year’s game. Fox reported $600 million in revenue from Super Bowl LIV, including programming before, during and after the game.
Many mainstays of Super Bowl advertising, companies like Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, are taking a break from the action this year for various reasons. ViacomCBS said it had seen strength in categories like consumer products, automotive, financial services and telecom.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to upend business and society, the NFL season has managed to be a constant for sports fans, TV viewers and advertisers. While many aspects of the games have been wholly unique — from empty stadiums to the lack of a preseason — the league has managed to have its season unfold as it announced it would months ago. That’s a claim that other leagues can’t make.
After seizing up last spring during the onset of Covid-19, with sports and production in limbo, TV advertising gradually has returned. Sports, mainly football, delivers that rarest of commodities: live, linear viewing.
Unlike other sports, which have seen massive ratings declines, NFL viewership dipped about 7% for the regular season but has rebounded during the playoffs.
CBS and Fox posted strong numbers from last Sunday’s conference championship games. Each game drew more than 40 million viewers, with Fox’s telecast of the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ win over the Green Bay Packers improving 9% over the 2020 NFC title game.
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