Media conglomerates hosted advertising professionals and prospective buyers at Upfront events across New York City last month, and it seems they are seeing significant return on investment. Brian Steinberg of Variety reported on Monday morning that indications point to advertisers having secured most of the inventory available for the upcoming Super Bowl LX broadcast on NBC. Earlier in the year, he had reported that NBCUniversal was looking for around $7 million for a 30-second advertisement during the championship game, something that would be on par with or slightly higher than what FOX initially looked for surrounding its broadcast last year.
Steinberg acknowledged that a buyer conveyed NBC informing advertisers earlier this month that immediate commitments to orders were necessary. If this was not going to be the case, the company would designate the advertisements to a list of waiting sponsors said to be growing. Steinberg added the perspective of another buyer, divulging that NBC had told some agencies it is “out of sale” for Super Bowl advertising berths. A media buyer suggested demand was at such a level that NBC may end up deciding to approach the league about allowing more commercial time for the event.
Comcast Corporation, the parent company of NBCUniversal, is entering the third season under its 10-year media rights deal with the National Football League reportedly worth $2 billion per annum. The Sunday Night Football broadcast property featuring play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico, analyst Cris Collinsworth and reporter Melissa Stark finished as the No. 1 show in prime time across all key metrics for a 14th consecutive year, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. Games throughout the season averaged a total audience delivery of 21.6 million viewers, representative of its best viewership since 2015.
NBC Sports is preparing to broadcast its 20th season of Sunday Night Football in 2025 beginning with the kickoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, Sept. 4. In addition to NFL games, the sports division will also be airing Big Ten Conference football and National Basketball Association contests. The Super Bowl broadcast taking place on Sunday, Feb. 8 will coincide with presentations of NBA All-Star Weekend and the Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026. Sports properties will remain within the NBCUniversal portfolio despite the conglomerate creating Versant, a new spin company containing cable networks such as CNBC, USA Network and MSNBC.
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