Super Bowl Commercial Buyers Put It on the Line
Would it still be the Super Bowl if the big game were to pit the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or would the Florida Bowl be a more appropriate title? What if the Tennessee Titans end up tangling with the St. Louis Rams? Would truth in advertising demand that Jan. 30’s game be billed as the Middle America Bowl?
The name game isn’t idle speculation for advertisers, who are paying a record $2 million for 30-second spots during ABC’s Super Bowl broadcast. The telecast has evolved into a pro forma advertising exercise for such well-known marketers as Visa and Pepsi-Cola. But the game represents a potentially expensive gamble for a dozen lesser-known “dot-coms” that are using Super Bowl XXXIV to build brand awareness.
Computer.com, for example, will spend $3 million on two pregame ads and a spot during the first quarter. The Maynard, Mass.-based start-up hopes to emulate the success of Monster.com, an online job service that used last year’s Super Bowl broadcast to break away from its rivals.
Returning Super Bowl veterans Monster.com and HotJobs.com are being joined by Super Bowl rookies Oxygen Media, Pets.com and OurBeginnings.com.
Sports marketers say dot-com executives won’t be sleeping well if pregame media coverage paints the big game in drab colors or the game dissolves into an early rout.
“In some of these cases, I’d be nervous if I were plunking down $2 million plus change for a 30-second spot,” said Keith Bruce, sports marketing director for advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding.
That said, advertisers continue to flock to the Super Bowl broadcast. The NFL championship game appeals to advertisers because it draws both hard-core football fans and viewers who don’t know a forward pass from a lateral. “They watch it because it’s an event,” said Jed Pearsall, president of Performance Research in Newport, R.I.
Ad revenue from the game mushroomed to $101 million in 1999, up from $39.6 million in 1990. The broadcast serves as a handy tool for network executives fending off attacks by cable programmers and the burgeoning Internet.
“Relatively speaking, the Super Bowl is an awesome event,” said Joe Mandese, editor of the Myers Report, a New York-based television industry newsletter. “Nothing else comes close. For many advertisers, it’s the only game in town. There are only so many Oprah specials and Monicagates that come along. And this is something that advertisers can count on, and buy into early on.”
Another measure of the broadcast’s continued importance is the fact that advertisers sign up for slots months before the playoffs begin.
Advertisers do not get refunds if the game turns out to be a dud, Mandese said, and networks cannot bump up rates once the contracts are signed.
Advertisers prefer teams from big cities such as New York, Dallas and Chicago--and it helps when the spotlight shines on such players as recently retired Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway and flamboyant Dallas Cowboy defensive back Deion Sanders. Advertisers can blame the NFL for allowing into the league such small-market teams as Tennessee and Jacksonville.
“The NFL believes that parity is good, so it knows this kind of match-up can occur,” said David Carter, a principal with Los Angeles-based Sports Business Group. “Parity increases the chances of different teams winning each year and, in theory, parity creates uncertainty during the course of the year that makes people want to tune in.”
In the end, it’s the game itself that drives the ratings.
Last year, Elway, playing his final game, engineered a first-half blowout that sent the fans packing early.
It was the lowest-rated Super Bowl broadcast since 1990, when San Francisco clobbered the Broncos, 55-10.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Super Marketing
Super Bowl advertising expenditures have continued to rise during the last decade as Super Bowl broadcasts dominate the 10 most-watched television programs in history.
Super Bowl Ad Revenue
*--*
Cost per Revenue 30-second spot Year Spots (millions) (thousands) 1990 47 $39.6 $659.5 1991 49 45.6 786.2 1992 52 48.0 774.6 1993 47 49.3 850.0 1994 44 52.2 900.0 1995 52 69.7 1,123.6 1996 49 56.1 1,085.0 1997 54 71.8 1,200.0 1998 52 78.0 1,300.0 1999 55 101.0 1,600.0 10 Most-Watched Programs in TV History
*--*
*--*
Viewers Program Date Network (millions) 1. Super Bowl XXX Jan. 28, 1996 NBC 138.5 2. Super Bowl XXVIII Jan. 30, 1994 NBC 134.8 3. Super Bowl XXVII Jan. 31, 1993 NBC 133.4 4. Super Bowl XXXI Jan. 26, 1997 FOX 128.9 5. Super Bowl XX Jan. 26, 1986 NBC 127.0 6. Winter Olympics Feb. 24, 1995 CBS 126.7 7. Super Bowl XXIX Jan. 29, 1995 ABC 125.2 8. Super Bowl XXI Jan. 25, 1987 CBS 122.6 9. MASH Feb. 28, 1983 CBS 121.6 10. Winter Olympics Feb. 25, 1994 CBS 119.9
*--*
Sources: Competitive Media Reporting, Nielsen Media Research
