How Much Does A Super Bowl Ad Cost In 2024?

Soon, it'll be time to stock up on chicken wings, grab your favorite adult beverages, and perhaps upgrade your television because Super Bowl LVIII is right around the corner. On Sunday, February 11, 2024, the championship game of the National Football League will be played out for the 58th consecutive year, this time at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Super Bowl is widely considered America's biggest sporting event of the year and even non-football fans will probably tune in to watch the halftime show by Usher. However, almost equally important as the big game itself are the Super Bowl commercials.

Over the years, ad executives have done their best to try and create memorable Super Bowl ads — from presenting Apple computers against a dystopian backdrop (inspired by George Orwell's novel "1984") to featuring Cindy Crawford and Britney Spears chugging Pepsi Cola (not at the same time). And who could forget the "Bud-Weiss-Er" trio of frogs? With the big game consistently attracting more than 100 million viewers in recent years, those precious advertising slots don't come cheap. According to AdAge, each 30-second commercial will cost approximately $7 million.

While paying $7 million for 30 seconds of TV time isn't exactly couch change, advertisers can at least take comfort that the price of a Super Bowl ad hasn't risen much, if any, from the 2023 game. In contrast, a 30-second spot cost a mere $5.6 million in 2021. Going back even further than that, the 1995 price was a bargain at less than $1 million. Plugging those numbers into our handy calculator, we find annual inflation of about 7% in the cost of Super Bowl advertising.

Though most Super Bowl spots are 30 seconds, some have been longer. Famously, Amazon and Google tied for the most expensive Super Bowl ad of all time, playing $16.8 million each in 2020. The reason? Each advertisement ran for 90 seconds. Since a regular 30-second commercial cost $5.6 million that year, it doesn't appear that the two tech giants received any sort of volume discount.

In spite of the lofty price tag, this year's Super Bowl broadcasters CBS and Paramount Plus report that all the ad time slots were sold out months ago. So, who's willing to pay $233,333 per second for some prime exposure? One is beer maker Anheuser-Busch, which purchased no less than five of the 30-second spots (2.5 minutes total) for its brands like Budweiser, Bud Light, and Michelob ULTRA, amidst a recent slump in sales. In retaliation, Molson Coors is bringing back the Coors Light Chill Train to introduce it to the "next generation;" the Chill Train was last seen 12 years ago.

Besides beer and snack foods, car ads are another staple of Super Bowl advertising. Conspicuously absent for Super Bowl LVIII are Detroit's "Big Three," consisting of Chevrolet, Ford, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler), all of which declined to purchase any commercial slots in this year's big game. However, BMW, Kia, and Volkswagen are reportedly taking up the slack and for the first time ever, motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki will be joining the fray. Finally, Intuit's TurboTax will be there to remind us that following the fun of Super Bowl Sunday comes the dreaded task of preparing and submitting our tax returns.