NBC "still has eight to ten 30-second spots left to sell" for its Feb. 1 broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX, and has "sold about 90% of the inventory available" for the broadcast, according to Brian Steinberg of VARIETY. The Super Bowl has "fallen victim to some of the same marketplace forces that have crimped TV advertising this season -- and is seeing a retreat by some of the car sponsors who have supported it in recent years with copious amounts of advertising." NBC Sports Exec VP/Sales & Marketing Seth Winter said that the "going has been tougher this year." Winter: "We would be in a far, far more accelerated sell-out if the automotives were just kind of advertising where they were." Steinberg noted the "last three Super Bowl broadcasts turned into something of a commercial traffic jam, thanks to ad upon ad for cars and trucks, and, sometimes, car-related services like Cars.com and CarMax" (VARIETY.com, 11/10). AD AGE's Jeanine Poggi noted when NBC last aired the game in '12, "about two dozen spots were filled by automakers," but so far Super Bowl XLIX has seen "just 12 equivalent units sold to advertisers in the category." Meanwhile, Super Bowl advertisers "are continuing to migrate toward long-form ads." Winter "noted an uptick" in the number of 60-second commercials sold (ADAGE.com, 11/10). Winter said that the decrease in automaker ads "may be because there are fewer major auto launches timed around" the game. He added there also will be fewer ads this year for "technology hardware" and "healthier snacks." Winter said that Super Bowl ad sales "were not hurt to any large degree" by the NFL's off-field issues this season, including several domestic violence incidents. He said that just "one advertiser privately mentioned that as a reason for not returning" (USA TODAY, 11/11).
RIGHT ON PACE? Winter said
NBC's Super Bowl ad sales look "pretty good" overall, although they may be "a little slower than previous years." In N.Y., Stuart Elliot noted Fox execs last September said that ad time for Super Bowl XLVIII was 95% sold, then by early December announced that it "was completely sold out." Winter said, "We could very well be sold out by the end of December. We’re in conversations with a lot of people." He added that he "was not surprised that Super Bowl sales were somewhat behind last year's pace." Winter: "We're not impervious to the overall marketplace." Elliott notes there has been a "noticeable softness in general demand for television commercial time for the last several months." But Winter said there are "a dozen new advertisers" for Super Bowl XLIX. He added that new advertisers "have purchased 15 30-second spots." Winter said any advertiser who "buys a single unit" -- one 30-second commercial -- during the game will pay $4.5M, while those buying multiple units will pay $4.4M each. Elliott notes the $4.5M figure "is a record" and is 12.5% higher than the estimated $4M that Fox charged for each 30-second spot in the '14 Super Bowl (
N.Y. TIMES, 11/11). Meanwhile, Winter said that ad sales for
NBCU’s "planned live streaming of the Super Bowl on
NBCSports.com were pacing alongside the TV broadcast." He added that only a "handful of Super Bowl sponsors will be offered inventory for the digital play" (
VARIETY.com, 11/10).
