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State of the Screens

Why Advertisers Pay Up for a Super Bowl Spot

By February 3, 2019No Comments

Super Bowl ad spend by year (YoY change):
1)
2017 (Fox) — $419M
2)
2018 (NBC) — $408M (↓ 3%)

Estimated cost per 30s spot by year (YoY change):
1) 2010 — $3.0M
2) 2011 — $3.1M (↑ 3%)
3) 2012 — $3.5M (↑ 13%)
4) 2013 — $4.0M (↑ 14%)
5) 2014 — $4.2M (↑ 5%)
6) 2015 — $4.4M (↑ 5%)
7) 2016 — $4.8M (↑ 9%)
8) 2017 — $5.0M (↑ 4%)
9) 2018- $5.2M (↑ 4%)
10) 2019P — $5.1M — $5.3M

Minutes of ads per Super Bowl (# of spots):
1) 2013: 51:40 (102)
2) 2014: 47:15 (96)
3) 2015: 48:05 (82)
4) 2016: 49:30 (83)
5) 2017: 51:30 (97)
6) 2017: 51:30 (97)
7) 2018: 51:20 (86)

Ad spot length during 2018 Super Bowl:
1) 30s: 51%
2) 1m+: 31%
3) 15s: 11%
4) Other: 7%

More #1: Why Super Bowl Ads Have Become a Harder Sell

More #2: SQAD Data Report: Super Bowl Ad Costs Over the Years

More #3: Super Bowl Ad Price Inflation Lags Regular NFL Season

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.