If you want to purchase ad space for this year’s Super Bowl XLVI, your time is up: every spot is sold out, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to media buyers at Comcast-owned NBC Universal, companies are shelling $3.5 million toward a single 30-second commercial, an increase from last year’s $3 million price when Fox carried the Green Bay Packers-Pittsburgh Steelers game. In the past 11 years, ad prices have spiked 59 percent, demonstrating the impact of the Super Bowl — the top trophy of sports event programming — on the advertising industry.
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“We have shattered any recent revenue stories in regards to the Super Bowl,” Seth Winter, senior vice president of sales and marketing at NBC’s sports group, told USA Today.
Each 30-second spot was filled by Thanksgiving, Winters said, noting a new trend in more commercials lasting 60 seconds or more, versus just 30 seconds.
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Here’s some early details on who bought what: Volkswagen, purveyor of 2011’s hit Darth Vader ad, purchased a 60-second spot in the third quarter to sell its Beetle car; Dannon will make an appearance as the first-ever yogurt company to advertise in the Super Bowl; NFL celebrities Troy Aikman and Deion Sanders will make cameos in Bridgestone ads; GoDaddy.com will feature the pop-music group Pussycat Dolls in one of its two spots. (Last year, the company revealed Joan Rivers as its star spokewoman.)
This Saturday, a dozen teams begin their quest for Super Bowl XLVI, slated for broadcast Feb. 5 on NBC. Check out the NFL playoff schedule here.
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