Media Buyers Say Some Super Bowl Spots Could Top $3M

While some 30-second spots on Fox' Super Bowl XLII broadcast have sold for $2.7M, compared to $2.6M for CBS' broadcast last year, "some of the final slots ... could sell for as much as" $3M, according to media buyers cited by Suzanne Vranica of the WALL STREET JOURNAL.  The job of Optimum Sports Dir of Sports Media Tom McGovern, "one of the biggest buyers of Super Bowl ads over the past eight years," has been "tougher this year because he has had to navigate a tighter market," as Fox has just two spots left for the game, giving the network "the upper hand in negotiations."  McGovern has overseen the purchase of about 15 ads on this year's game for clients including PepsiCo, FedEx, Universal Studios and Cars.com -- "about a quarter of the entire ad inventory for the game." McGovern said the last time he saw this type of demand for Super Bowl ads was in '99, "when we had the dot-com companies and many of them came on the scene and just bought Super Bowl ad time." McGovern added, "There is nothing available in the media that provides the reach that the Super Bowl has. It's becoming more so as you see the ratings of general entertainment television decline" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/14).