By Emily Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief
How many people watch the Super Bowl for the actual game? While many look forward to the one of the most watched sports events, it’s not always for the same reasons. Some are genuinely ecstatic for the actual sport, while others simply enjoy watching the halftime show and eating the delicious sport-themed foods. However, there is another thing that everyone looks forward to when watching the Super Bowl: the ads.
The stakes for this year’s Super Bowl LIX were no different. Tubi, a Fox News streaming service, streamed the Super Bowl this year, and brought in over $800 million in gross revenue from ads. With over 127.7 million viewers and the most-watched ever halftime show, running an ad at the Super Bowl presents unique opportunities for big name companies. However, they have to spend a lot of money to do so.
This year, a 30-second Super Bowl ad averaged $8 million. This price has risen drastically from past years. While a 30-second Super Bowl ad in 1967, when the first ever Super Bowl took place, cost $37,500, placing a 30-second ad in the last two Super Bowls cost $7 million.
The price of an ad can also depend on when it is shown throughout the streaming of the game. Peter Bray, the founder and executive creative director at ad agency Bray & Co., told CBS News that close to 51 minutes of this year’s almost four hour event consisted of ads.
Multiple corporations paid more for their Super Bowl ads, including Dunkin Donuts, T-Mobile and Lays, which all ran 60 second screenings for their campaigns. Some companies were even more bold, such as Nike, which ran a 90 second ad, and Jeep, which ran a two minute ad.
The time itself is not the only cost of Super Bowl ads. Companies also have to pay actors to be in their ads, as well as cover the cost of production. According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, Super Bowl ads can end up costing anywhere from $10 million to $20 million in total once other costs are factored in.
According to CBS News, actors can be paid anywhere $50,000 to upwards of millions of dollars depending on their level of fame and how long they appear in the ad. For example, Ben Afleck was paid almost $10 million to appear in and help create this year’s Dunkin Donuts ad.
Some advertisers, such as Doritos and Häagen-Daz, chose to release different versions of their ads before the Super Bowl even took place. Doritos even held a competition to let viewers decide which ad to run in the game.
Others, like Nike, however, chose not to release their ad early, hoping to leave viewers in suspense. This had major payoffs for the famous brand, according to an article in Business Insider. From their commercial, Nike got 188,000 engagement actions and 23.9 million impressions. This was the second highest, after Dunkin Donuts’ 38.4 million impressions.
An investment in a Super Bowl ad is no cheap endeavor for any company, no matter their net worth. However, with 127.7 people watching, some from across the globe, the net gain opportunities of a Super Bowl ad are often well worth the initial expense, leaving many companies who placed Super Bowl ads in this year’s event as the real winners of the night.
Photo Caption: The Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl victory parade
Photo Credit: Unsplash