Super Bowl spots are still the hottest ticket in advertising.
NBC has sold all the commercial airtime for the Feb. 5 game in Indianapolis and even has a waiting list of advertisers. The average cost for a 30-second spot this year was $3.5 million, with some time slots costing as much as $4 million.
Seth Winter, senior vice president of NBC Sports group sales & marketing, said in a recent interview that the last time slot was sold just after Thanksgiving. A year ago, Fox Sports said it sold the last of its advertising spots before the end of October.
Slots are still available during NBC’s pregame show, and those on the waiting list for the Super Bowl will have an opportunity to advertise if other companies give up their slot.
“There are the usual companies that have supported it in the past,” Winter said. “Automotive will be very healthy. Beverages will be very healthy. The movie and snack category continue to be healthy. There will be a few new players and some who have been there, who won’t be there.”
Winter declined to identify which companies bought ads or dropped out, fearing it could tip off competitors. Anheuser-Busch InBev, Coca-Cola and Godaddy.com are among the recent regulars.
The biggest change this year, Winter said, is advertisers are booking longer spots to showcase their creativity.
“Some of the things I’ve seen are astonishing,” Winter said. “I think you’ll see a lot of ads that are humorous and action-filled, with a range of different types of executions. We haven’t seen everything yet; we don’t see everything until almost the week of (the game).”
The ads must comply with network and NFL standards.
Sports fans also might see the ads more regularly, thanks to NBC’s merger with Comcast. NBC officials have used the Super Bowl to sell advertisers on its expanding family of networks, including NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) and The Golf Channel.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More