Ad space was in high demand this year, according to the Fox Sports executive vice president of ad sales. Because of how many people watch the event every year — last year’s game had an estimated audience of 123.7 million — the Super Bowl has become the holy grail for advertisers. “Even though a Super Bowl advertising campaign might not pay immediately in hard dollars and cents, if a business can afford to produce one of these stellar spots, they stand to earn new customers and build awareness on a scale unmatched by other outlets,” Peter Koeppel, founder and president of marketing agency Koeppel Direct said in 2019.
“Good or bad, though, impactful Super Bowl ads are the ones that are getting talked about. What a marketer can’t afford is an ad that completely fails to deliver. Because the Super Bowl is also sort of a Super Bowl of marketing, the competition is fierce – the commercials have to be memorable for them to pay off in the long run. “An ad that doesn’t give viewers something, for better or worse, won’t be a profitable one,” he continued.
However, the 30-second limit hasn’t stopped brands from bending the rules before. Back in 2021, Reddit spent its entire ad budget on the shortest-ever Super Bowl commercial. The social media and news platform’s commercial lasted for just five seconds and urged viewers to pause their TVs to read it. The price of ad spots in this year’s Super Bowl went for $8 million and up for just 30 seconds, according to AP News. Mark Evans, Fox Sports’ executive vice president for ad sales, said 2025 ad space sold out back in November 2024.
