With around 25% of Super Bowl ad time having been
purchased by "dot.com marketers," E-Trade "is trying to
break through the interactive clutter by buying entitlement
to the Super Bowl halftime show in a deal sources pegged at
around" $3.8M, according to Terry Lefton of BRANDWEEK.
Since the online trading site "had already purchased" two
spots during ABC's Super Bowl pregame show and two spots
during the game, the sponsorship, "normally packaged with
ads leading into and coming out of halftime, was sold with
only one spot -- the one leading into the second half."
Therefore, the NFL and ABC are left with "another spot to
sell." League officials "feel the total yield of the
package plus the extra spot will exceed the $5 million price
tag of the original halftime package." Under the deal, E-
Trade "gets mentions during pre-game programming, the first
half of the game and during ABC's telecast of the Wild Card
Playoff Games" on January 8. It "also has an option to
return as the halftime show sponsor next year, branding in
all mentions of the halftime show and inclusion in a yet-to-
be developed logo." E-Trade "will leverage" by giving away
at least 25 pairs of tickets to Super Bowl XXXIV, including
travel and lodging. Lefton adds that E-Trade's Super Bowl
package "is one of the largest this side of Anheuser-Busch,
which has eight spots" (BRANDWEEK, 11/22 issue).
