NFL TV Partners Continue Airing "Concussion" Ads, With No Pushback From League

The NFL's TV partners "haven't shied away from airing promotional spots for the upcoming Will Smith drama 'Concussion,'" according to Anthony Crupi of AD AGE. Since a 30-second "Concussion" trailer "first began airing on Nov. 17, Sony and distributor Columbia Pictures have invested" some $14M in national TV time to support the film, of which nearly a third (31%, or $4.33M) "has been spent on in-game NFL broadcasts on CBS, NBC, Fox and ESPN." NFL Network "has not run the 'Concussion' spot in any of its telecasts." According to iSpot.tv estimates, "Concussion" accounts for the "third-biggest NFL movie spend in the last 30 days, behind only Lucasfilm's 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' and Warner Brothers' 'Point Break.'" Network execs said that at no point "has the NFL attempted to dissuade its media partners from carrying the 'Concussion' spot." iSpot data shows ESPN is "by far the studios' favorite target, having aired the 'Concussion' spot no fewer than 245 times thus far." By comparison, runner-up Fox "has run the ad 10 times since Thanksgiving." The two most frequent hosts for the movie trailer "are NBA broadcasts and 'SportsCenter.'" The spot "is also a repeat guest of ESPN's afternoon roundtables 'Pardon the Interruption' and 'Around the Horn'" (ADAGE.com, 12/16).