Super Bowl ad buyers are beginning to seem "eager to block TV networks from scoring" more than $5M for a 30-second spot, according to Brian Steinberg of VARIETY. A-B InBev U.S. VP/Marketing Marcel Marcondes said, "We get concerned whenever we see prices going up." He said with more people watching sports via streaming video, the "context has changed.” A-B InBev has a multiyear Super Bowl sponsorship that will "take it through" NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl LII in '18, and Steinberg writes if the brewer "is focused on the numbers, maybe others should be, too." Fox sought more than $5M for ads in Super Bowl LI, but there are some skeptics who "believe it may have accepted less in certain cases." Ad buyers "suggest their clients must deal with a range of new and growing costs." Most networks also "seek to sell bigger packages of ad inventory around a transaction surrounding the Super Bowl." With that in mind, the price tag around a Super Bowl commercial "can start veering" toward $10M or more. NBCU Exec VP/Sales & Marketing Dan Lovinger indicated that the net is seeking "north" of $5M for a 30-second ad in this season's game. He said ad demand is "holding to our plan." Lovinger: "I imagine you would understand that, traditionally, we don't plan for decreases." He added that NBC has "already sold out all the 'A' spots -- the first commercial slot in each ad break -- in the first quarter ... and is pacing well for the same in the second quarter." Steinberg notes networks pitch the Super Bowl as "one of the last bastions of engaged mass viewership." However, selling the Super Bowl has "become a tougher proposition in recent years." Both CBS and Fox in the last two years "declined to acknowledge in public whether they had achieved that feat for Super Bowl 50 or Super Bowl LI." NBC announced it sold out ads for Super Bowl XLIX in '15 with "just days to go before kickoff" (VARIETY.com, 7/7).
