The Super Bowl 2019 is almost here. This weekend will see the New England Patriots take the field against the Los Angeles Rams in a much-anticipated game but we all know the Super Bowl is much more than that. The half time show is one thing to look out for. It features a star-studded cast of performers and this time Maroon 5 will be taking the stage. And there are also the funny ads that come with the event.
Big brands have often taken the commercial slots during the Super Bowl and you can’t really blame them. This is literally the most watched event on TV in the US each year. In light of this, it makes sense that brands will try to grab the attention of the entire nation with their creative commercials. Well, have you ever wondered how much money it would cost to have a commercial air during the Super Bowl?
The event this year will be hosted by CBS and a 30-second spot will be going for a record $5.25 million. In essence, that translates to $175,000 per second. This year’s price is actually slightly higher compared to last year when companies had to pay $5.2 million for a 30-second slot. It seems though that as the years go the cost of airing an ad during the Super Bowl keeps growing. In 2014, for example, the cost was $1 million less compared to last year.
Additionally, over the last decade, the cost has more than doubled. According to research firm Nielsen Media, the average cost of airing an ad during the Super Bowl was $2.8 million for 30 seconds in 2008. This has now almost doubled ten years later. If you think that’s small, let’s take you back to 1967 during the first Super Bowl match. Ad slots at the time were ranging between $37,500 and $42,500. The average cost didn’t hit $1 million until 1995.
But the biggest increase over a 12 month period was recorded in 2000 when the average cost jumped by 31% compared to the previous year. At the time, there were a lot of rising Internet startups with very deep pockets and they were all competing for the limited time slots. This was influential in shooting up the cost.
The 2019 Super Bowl is expected to draw in at least 100 million people. Although NFL ratings have dipped over the last few seasons, the Super Bowl always has a way of attracting viewers. Spending millions of dollars on airing the ads is not the only cost for these companies. In fact, since the 30 seconds you get during the event are not always enough, companies try to build up their commercials weeks before the Super Bowl.
Most of the time, the commercials are actually done specifically for this event and do tend to involve celebrities. As a result, advertisers release sneak previews of the commercial with the intention of enticing people so that they can look forward to the ad during the Super Bowl. It’s not clear how effective these commercials are but if companies are willing to spend millions on them, then it means they actually work.
