Fox is seeking around $4M for a 30-second ad in Super Bowl XLVIII, a "slight tick up from the average price secured by CBS" -- between $3.7-3.8M -- in '13, according to sources cited by Brian Steinberg of VARIETY. Fox Sports Media Group Exec VP/Sales Neil Mulcahy said that the net has sold "approximately 85% of its Super Bowl inventory." Mulcahy did not say how many ad slots remain unsold, but he said Fox "should be sold out” before November. Steinberg noted that is when Fox "announced a sell out of Super Bowl inventory for its 2011 broadcast." One ad buyer "suggested Fox was getting" around $4M for a 30-second spot in the first half of the game and around $3.8M for a 30-second spot in the second half. The $4M does "not represent a record price tag," as CBS said that it "sold some ads" for $4M in its Super Bowl XLVII broadcast in February. But the figures "do suggest demand for what is arguably the premiere event on television continues as advertisers find it near-impossible to reach an audience as diverse and big as the Super Bowl’s." The slight rise in ad rates comes despite the fact that Ravens-49ers saw the "first ratings dip" for the Super Bowl since '05. It is "possible Fox may seek higher prices as it seeks to sell its remaining ad inventory" (VARIETY.com, 8/22). Mulcahy said that the ad slots will be "90% gone by the time the NFL season begins" Sept. 5. Mulcahy: "It's selling the way the No. 1 show on TV should sell." He added that some slots "were sold as part of ad packages along with" FS1 and other sporting events. Mulcahy also said that there will be "new advertisers this go-round," though he did not disclose any of them (USA TODAY, 8/23).
