CFP Semifinal Ad Buyers Negotiating ESPN Makegoods Due To Disappointing Ratings

ESPN may owe upwards of $20M "in ad makegoods for ratings shortfalls" for the two CFP semifinal games on New Year's Eve, according to media buyers cited by John Consoli of BROADCASTING & CABLE. Ad buyers and ESPN sales staff all last week were "negotiating locations where audience deficiency ad units or makegoods can be had sooner than later." The two "most obvious spots" were tonight's Alabama-Clemson CFP national championship and this past Saturday's Chiefs-Texans AFC Wild Card. Buyers said that ESPN "anticipated a ratings drop-off for the two New Year’s Eve playoff semi-finals, despite the CFP committee’s overblown optimism, and did hold back from sale several units in the championship game that it can use for makegoods." The network, likewise, "held from sale several units in its NFL telecast." But there were "likely not enough" ad units "available in both those games to cover all the makegoods owed." Some advertisers, like some of the major CFP advertiser partners and bowl game naming-rights sponsors, "could be more cooperative and wait for makegoods to come in either next season’s major regular season or bowl games, or even ask for spots in the NBA Finals telecasts in June." Regarding tonight's CFP championship game, buyers are concerned that shelling out as much as $1.3M per 30-second spot "might not get them the ratings they were guaranteed" either. Last year’s game "drew 33.4 million viewers and an 18.2 household rating, making it the most watched program in the history of cable." Buyers said that in order for ESPN to "bump up its asking price" from $1M per 30 for last year’s championship game to $1.3M this year, it "had to sizably increase its ratings guarantees" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 1/8).

TIME FOR A CHANGE? SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Smith & Ourand report marketers "with deep investments in the CFP" -- $20-30M annually for title sponsors -- "say scheduling the semifinals on New Year’s Eve needs to be seriously re-examined." Chicago-based agency rEvolution Exec VP/Media Group Larry Mann, whose firm represents Rose Bowl presenting sponsor Northwestern Mutual, said, "The big story going forward is whether the CFP sponsors will step up and put enough pressure on to get the semifinals off New Year’s Eve in the future. The millions of dollars at stake are too great. This is going to continue to be a big story." Dr Pepper Snapple Group Exec VP/Marketing Jim Trebilcock said, "I don’t want to be dismissive about it. Absolutely, we’d like to see better ratings. But we’re not necessarily dependent on it. The property is bigger than the ratings." Smith & Ourand note some of the title sponsors were "meeting with ESPN before the final ratings were even issued to talk about make-good advertising units." Others "planned meetings in Phoenix at the site of the national championship game" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/11 issue).