Kantar: Super Bowl Ad Revenue Hit $370M in 2016

Super Sunday is the biggest day in television and ad revenues for the big game continued to rise last year, according to new figures from Kantar Media.

Super Bowl 50 generated $369.6 million in in-game advertising for CBS, up 6% from the previous year, according to Kantar. The network picked up another $75.4 million in ad sales for the pre and post game coverage, bringing the grand total to $445 million.

Since 2007, the Super Bowl has generated $2.59 billion in advertising revenue with more than 130 marketers buying spots.

The price of those high-profile 30-second TV commercials is also on the rise. Kantar pegs the average price at $4.8 million for 2016. That’s a big increase from 2007, when 30-seconds went for $2.39 million.

Ad pricing is negotiated and therefore individual marketers can pay different amounts, Kantar notes. Variables affecting the actual rate include the amount of commercial time purchased, where spots appear in the game and whether the advertiser opts for a larger package that includes units in the pre-game and/or post-game coverage.

Not surprisingly, the volume of commercial time in the Super Bowl is increasing. Super Bowl 50 contained 49 minutes and 35 seconds worth of ad messages between the opening kickoff and the final whistle, according to Kantar. That figure includes 96 paid spots as well as promos for the NFL and CBS shows. It is up from 48:05 in 2015, when commercials aired.

The biggest Super Bowl spenders last year were Anheuser-Busch, Fiat-Chrysler, Pepsico, Deutsche Telekom, Honda, Toyota and Valeant Pharmaceutical.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.