King's Rings: Olympic Year Boosts A-B Sports Ad Spend By 27%
Anheuser-Busch (A-B) topped all sports ad spenders again in '08 with more than $277M, up 27.1% during the Olympic year, according to data compiled for SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily by Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The St. Louis-based brewer, which officially became A-B InBev in November '08, dedicated over 80% of its total ad spend to sports programming for the full year of '08. With the exception of '06, A-B has been No. 1 every year since at least '94, when Nielsen began tracking such data. Chevrolet, which had been No. 1 in '06, fell to third in '08, with AT&T Mobile coming in as the second-ranked advertiser, as its sports ad spending increased by 41.5%. Among the top 15 sports advertising spenders, IOC TOP sponsor Visa saw the biggest jump in '08 with an increase of 140.8%, which moved them up 30 spots. Auto companies Ford and Nissan were the only top-15 sports ad spenders to reduce their total from '07. The chart below lists the top 15 sports advertisers from '08 (THE DAILY).
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TOP SPORTS ADVERTISERS FOR '08
|
|
'08 Rank
|
'07 Rank
|
Brand
|
'08 Sports Ad Spending
|
1-yr
% +/-
|
2-yr
% +/-
|
% of Total Ad Spend on Sports
|
|
1
|
1
|
Anheuser-Busch^
|
$277,409,224
|
27.1%
|
9.9%
|
80.8%
|
|
2
|
3
|
AT&T Mobile^
|
$243,316,201
|
41.5%
|
161.2%
|
26.4%
|
|
3
|
2
|
Chevrolet
|
$178,252,600
|
2.9%
|
-34.2%
|
51.5%
|
|
4
|
6
|
Sprint Nextel
|
$152,616,107
|
11.0%
|
7.2%
|
27.6%
|
|
5
|
5
|
Verizon
|
$147,938,230
|
6.3%
|
17.1%
|
18.6%
|
|
6
|
7
|
Toyota
|
$142,516,793
|
5.7%
|
20.5%
|
41.4%
|
|
7
|
4
|
Ford
|
$136,288,521
|
-2.3%
|
-4.4%
|
35.5%
|
|
8
|
10
|
DirecTV
|
$130,381,457
|
52.7%
|
155.0%
|
52.7%
|
|
9
|
14
|
McDonald’s^*
|
$120,350,982
|
62.4%
|
1.8%
|
29.6%
|
|
10
|
40
|
Visa*
|
$108,446,395
|
140.8%
|
-20.0%
|
44.8%
|
|
11
|
15
|
Coca-Cola^*
|
$107,914,359
|
47.8%
|
-2.8%
|
65.6%
|
|
12
|
12
|
Southwest Airlines
|
$103,245,563
|
26.6%
|
14.0%
|
87.2%
|
|
13
|
8
|
Nissan
|
$98,310,004
|
-1.4%
|
-18.0%
|
35.4%
|
|
14
|
41
|
Geico
|
$90,723,650
|
102.5%
|
169.0%
|
25.7%
|
|
15
|
13
|
Dodge
|
$87,451,772
|
12.1%
|
-7.0%
|
53.7%
|
NOTES: Spending information is based on standard rate card prices for specific national and regional broadcasts, multiplied by the length of time a particular ad aired. Statistical anomalies are due to rounding. ^= USOC partner during Beijing Olympics. * = IOC TOP sponsor during Beijing Olympics.
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