NBCUniversal Still Has ‘a Few’ Super Bowl 56 Ad Units Left

After four months of silence about the state of its Super Bowl 56 and Winter Olympics ad sales, NBCUniversal is finally opening up about its expected ad revenue haul for both major February sports events. The company is still holding on to “a few” ad units for Super Bowl 56, and its sales for the Olympics in Beijing are on par with where they were four years ago at this time, heading into the Pyeongchang Games, Dan Lovinger, evp, advertising sales, NBC Sports Group, said during a pre-recorded Super Bowl 56 and Winter Olympics press briefing released today. The Super Bowl remains “virtually sold out,” said Lovinger, adding that NBCU has held onto “a few units” until the final matchup is announced for the Feb. 13 game. “As we’ve learned, some optionality is helpful for us, and it’s helpful for our advertising partners. So much of the decision to be part of the Super Bowl is based on creative, and when we know who’s in the game, sometimes that creative creates some resonance based on the matchup.” The average unit rate for a Super Bowl ad has increased 20% since NBC last aired the game four years ago, said Lovinger, and some 30-second spots have sold for as much as $6.5 million. Here’s How You Can Watch the 2022 Winter Olympics Across NBCUniversal Platforms That $6.5 million pricetag is an 18% increase from the $5.5 million CBS commanded per spot for Super Bowl 55 last February during the pandemic. That 2020 number represented a slight dip from Fox’s $5.6 million rate for Super Bowl 54 in 2019. Lovinger said the price increases are due to the NFL’s dominant position compared to other sports and entertainment programming (“if you’re looking to reach 100 million people in an evening, there’s really only one place you can go, and that’s the Super Bowl”) as well as the stable economy (“what we’ve learned is when consumers consume, advertisers advertise.”) Some categories that sat out during last year’s Super Bowl because of the pandemic, like movie studios, have returned, joined by new categories like sports betting, cryptocurrency and streaming platforms. And Super Bowl category mainstays like automotive, QSR and beverage will again have a big presence in the game. Based on scripts his team has read, this year’s spots will feature “a more comedic tone” than 2021, said Lovinger. “I think the country’s ready for it.” This is the first Super Bowl 56 ad sales update from NBCUniversal since September, when Lovinger told reporters, “as of today, we only have a few units left, and we’re purposely holding them back.” In July, NBCUniversal said it had already sold 85% of its in-game advertising inventory—a full seven months before the game— as part of what the company called its largest sports upfront marketplace in history. Winter Olympics update As for sales for the Winter Olympics, which will be held Feb. 2-20, “we’re at exactly the same spot we were heading into the Pyeongchang games in terms of our sellouts,” said Lovinger. “We still have some work to be done between now and the end of the Games, but we feel really confident that we’re going to achieve all of our goals.” So far, nearly 100 advertisers are lined up for the Winter Olympics, which Lovinger said is on par with where NBC Sports was at this point heading into the Pyeongchang Games. That includes 40 new advertisers. The average spend level per advertiser is up slightly from 2018. NBC Sports raked in approximately $900 million in total ad revenue for the 2018 Winter Olympics, topping its mid-$800 million haul for the Sochi Games in 2014. Last summer’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics brought in more than $1.2 million in ad revenue. Digital ad revenue is up double digits compared to 2018, which Lovinger said an indication of how the Olympics are now consumed across multiple platforms. Peacock Premium subscribers in the U.S. will be able to livestream all of NBCU’s Games in Beijing coverage. Several of the company’s Games in Beijing partners are “focused on enhancing the Olympics,” said Lovinger, including Toyota, which will present “a first-ever commercial-free experience during some of our biggest moments in the Games.” Lovinger also talked about how his team is working with marketers in light of the U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Games in Beijing. He said that the athletes don’t receive financial support from the government and rely on financial assistance from corporate sponsors, so “when our advertisers decide to sit these Games out, it really hurts the athletes.”

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NBCU Still Has ‘a Few’ Super Bowl 56 Ad Units Left, Winter Games Sales On Par With 2018

Company gives first revenue update in four months about the big February sporting events

Jason Lynch

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Jason Lynch