How CBS Quietly Sold Out the Super Bowl, Despite a Pandemic

In an NFL season filled with unexpected twists and turns, CBS saved one of the biggest surprises for last. Despite public perception that its Super Bowl ad market had been soft due to the pandemic, as some traditional Big Game advertisers had decided to sit out this year, a ViacomCBS spokesperson said Wednesday that it had “virtually sold out” of its in-game inventory. The news stunned marketers, some of whom had been hoping to capitalize last-minute on what they had perceived to be, in the words of one anonymous buyer, “some avails out there that we haven’t seen in awhile”—and potentially discounted from the $5.5 million price tag that CBS had set per 30-second spot. That is slightly below last year’s $5.6 million rate for Super Bowl 54 on Fox, but CBS’ deals also require marketers to pay an additional $300,000 per spot to be included in the digital livestream. Instead, CBS sold out its Super Bowl 2021 inventory a week earlier than it had during its last two Super Bowls, in 2019 and 2016. Two years ago, the network did not announce that it had sold out of Super Bowl 53 ads until less than five hours before the game began. (Last year’s Super Bowl 54 was an anomaly, as Fox sold out of its in-game inventory 10 weeks ahead of the game, the earliest that had happened in nine years.) ViacomCBS had been publicly quiet about its Super Bowl ad sales progress, but according to two people close to the negotiations, the ad sales team had been vocal with agencies that inventory was growing scarce. Meanwhile, many marketers had also kept their Big Game plans unusually close to the vest this year. As a result, much of January's Super Bowl chatter had focused not on the brands that were going to be in this year’s game, but on the perennial Big Game marketers that opted to sit this one out, including Budweiser, Hyundai and Coke. (Pepsi won’t run in-game ads, but will continue to sponsor the halftime show.) Yet even with those heavyweight brands on the sidelines, CBS had long known that the respective parent companies would continue to have a considerable Super Bowl marketing presence. Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, has eight units in the game, more than any other Super Bowl advertiser, while PepsiCo purchased multiple spots for brands like Doritos and Mountain Dew. The ‘Stay-at-Home Super Bowl’ At the same time, the ad sales team took a different approach to this year’s Super Bowl, casting a wider net than usual and reaching out to marketers at companies that had thrived during Covid-19. As a result, the Super Bowl 55 lineup features several brands appearing in the game for the very first time, and some advertisers that viewers might not have even heard of. The game will include first-time ads from the likes of Huggies, Chipotle, DoorDash, Indeed, Hellmann’s, Mercari, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Vroom and Fiverr. Some CBS ad sales execs have been referring to this year’s Big Game as the “Stay-at-Home Super Bowl,” given the number of spots focused on brands and activities that became a familiar part of consumers' quarantine routine. Earlier this month, CBS had already sold more than 85% of its in-game ads, with roughly 10 ad units left. Those remaining spots were snapped up in a frenzied 48-hour period following Sunday’s AFC and NFC Championship Games, as the Super Bowl 2021 matchup was set: Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs. Despite the heads-up given to agencies about dwindling supply, CBS’ announcement of a Super Bowl sellout caused multiple brands to panic, frantically calling the company to see if there were any other in-game options, according to one source with knowledge. “We were cooked when we announced this morning. And now, we’re overdone,” Jo Ann Ross, president and chief advertising revenue officer of domestic advertising sales at ViacomCBS, said late Wednesday, referring to the post-announcement wave of marketer interest. For those brands left on the outside looking in, CBS will direct them to its other remaining Super Bowl Sunday inventory, but that supply is also dwindling rapidly: The half-hour Kick-Off Show right before the game is also sold out, with limited availability in pregame and postgame programming. 'Sold out' in name only Of course, even though CBS said it is sold out, the company will still try to find a way to accommodate any marketers who make a great offer at the last minute to try and get into the game. "'Sold out' doesn't necessarily mean that everything's set in stone come Super Bowl Sunday,” said Jeremy Carey, managing director of Optimum Sports, Omnicom’s sports media and marketing division. He noted that even last year, when Fox sold out its inventory in November, there was movement and momentum as game day approached. That’s because “creative goes down to the wire” in the Super Bowl, said Jeff Gagne, svp of strategic investments at Havas Media. “And that can impact length of unit, which changes the inventory in the game” as brands look to increase—or decrease—the length of their spot depending on how they feel about their finished ad. “We're constantly working on trying to figure out if we can get things approved or if we can shift things over there, or can we swap positions on certain things to get things working in a better format for both clients involved, or multiple clients involved,” Carey said. “The situation is constantly evolving” as final cuts come in, and clients try to change the length of their spot, or their in-game positioning. It’s no surprise that CBS would pull out all the stops for the Super Bowl during a challenging year for advertisers. Super Bowl 2020 generated an estimated $448.7 million worth of in-game ad revenue for Fox, according to Kantar. At the time, Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch told investors that Fox had “the largest revenue day in TV history” on Super Bowl Sunday, generating “around $600 million of gross revenue” starting with pregame programming and continuing through The Masked Singer, which aired after the game. As Adweek reported last fall, this year’s late-moving upfront and NFL markets—due to the pandemic—delayed CBS' Super Bowl talks, which didn’t gain momentum until late August. The market was strong through Thanksgiving, with another uptick just prior to Christmas. While last year featured more long-form spots, with so many first-time advertisers involved this time around, most brands opted for traditional 30-second ads—though there will be at least one two-minute spot in the game. Theatrical, which is always a popular Super Bowl category, will be in sparse supply this year, with movie release dates continuing to be postponed as the pandemic keeps audiences out of theaters. However, multiple streamers will be featured in the game. This year’s Super Bowl advertisers have also been struggling to capture the right tone amid the pandemic and political unrest. “Creative is always a huge factor in the Super Bowl," Gagne noted. "And this year has been more complicated than ever before." 'The ultimate media vehicle in 2021' Despite all the struggles of the past year, buyers note that the Big Game remains a peerless marketing move. “Putting an ad on TV, in this marketplace, that reaches as many millions as a Super Bowl does is a rare opportunity,” Gagne said. Especially as linear ratings have continued to plummet this season, the “Super Bowl is going to really stand out as the ultimate media vehicle in 2021.” Added Carey, “The Super Bowl is like this crazy, one-time platform where the value keeps coming back to you after you've participated in it as a marketer. There's nothing else like that out there.” This year’s Super Bowl ads, as always, do not have ratings guarantees, but both CBS and marketers have high hopes for the Bucs-Chiefs matchup, especially given the enticing Brady vs. Mahomes subplot. Last year’s Super Bowl on Fox drew an audience of 113.4 million, including out-of-home viewers. Plus, with fewer out-of-home gatherings and Super Bowl parties due to Covid-19, “the ratings could actually benefit. You have more potential television sets in the mix,” Gagne said. Some buyers feel that regardless of what happens in the game on Feb. 7, the NFL season has already been a resounding success, given all of the obstacles that had to be overcome during the pandemic. “The fact that we made it through, and we actually had a season and got to a point where we're going to be able to hopefully crown a Super Bowl champion, is a success in itself,” Carey said. “And a lot of what we talk about is making sure we're putting that into perspective.” For all the latest Super Bowl advertising news—who’s in, who’s out, teasers, full ads and more—check out Adweek’s Super Bowl 2021 Ad Tracker and the rest of our stories about the Big Game. And join us on the evening of Feb. 7 for the best in-game coverage of the commercials anywhere.

Super Bowl Commercials

How CBS Quietly Sold Out of Super Bowl Ads Earlier Than Usual, Despite a Pandemic

A 48-hour final flurry of activity cleared out inventory, stunning marketers

Jason Lynch

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Jason Lynch