NBC Sets Record for Super Bowl Ad Rates at $6.5 Million
- Cryptocurrency among new sponsor categories for February game
- Super Bowl ads last year sold for an average of $5.6 million
Fireworks erupt after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7.
Photographer: Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
NBC is selling Super Bowl ads for as much as $6.5 million, a record that shows there’s still advertiser demand for the most-watched sporting event in the U.S. even with audiences shrinking.
The price is a sharp increase from a year ago, when CBS, a unit of ViacomCBS Inc., sold Super Bowl commercials for an average of $5.6 million. That game attracted an audience of 96.4 million TV and digital viewers. While that was still the most-watched event on television, it was the smallest audience for the big game in over a decade.