The Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos will soon face-off in Santa Clara, and companies are lining up their promotions. Super Bowl 50 ads that have already begun airing and unique tie-ins featuring popular brands, like the forthcoming Deadpool film.
However, they certainly don’t come cheap. A report from Mobile Advertising Watch shows that Super Bowl ad pricing has jumped to staggering levels over the past few years. “The average rate for a 30-second advertisement in the Super Bowl has increased by 76 percent during the past decade and reached $4.4 million 2015,” said Kantar Media, per its report. “It’s the most expensive commercial time on television by far. Strong demand for ad time is pointing towards higher pricing for the 2016 game.” It could grow to nearly $5 million for a 30-second spot next year.
That said, a Bloomberg report indicates that the higher pricing is worth it, especially considering the 114 million viewer outreach (judging from last year’s numbers) the game usually garners – not to mention the countless fans that watch the ads online separately.
Viewership has remained steady at around 80 million in the start of the 2000’s, but by 2015, the number jumped significantly, with a record number expected for this year’s big game.
With CBS also airing the game digitally, an even bigger audience is expected, and we could be seeing an interesting trend for the Super Bowl over the next couple of years as spending on digital advertising eclipses regular advertising. The “big game” interest is still going to be there, but there could be a bigger interest in how many people are watching online compared to just TV.
Cost could play a part in this advertising game as well, as the below chart indicates just how much is paid per viewer in terms of thousand impressions. Network TV still leads significantly over in-stream video, although, again, this could possibly change.
As for the time spent watching Super Bowl ads, it’s jumped quite a bit as well. Back in 2014, 370 million minutes of advertising was watched. However, by 2015, that jumped more than double, to 840 million. It’s likely to increase again, too.
Finally, if you need any real proof that Super Bowl advertising spending is effective, check out the below chart, which shows how it’s managed to grow from $162.5 million in 2006 all the way to $345.4 million for 2015. This year should be even bigger, although an estimate wasn’t provided in the report.
All taken together, the Super Bowl continues to be a premium spot for advertising, with millions of viewers catching the advertising message and sharing favorite ads with their friends. Bigger companies like Anheuser Busch and Pepsi have continued to flourish with new ads, and even newcomers like the Clash of Clans and Heroes Charge commercials have done extremely well.
