The NFL is still months away from the Super Bowl — but CBS has already “virtually sold out” its advertising inventory for the big game, according to Variety.
Despite reportedly selling ads for somewhere between $6.5 million and $7 million each for a 30-second spot — the upper limit matching Fox’s record price ahead of the last Super Bowl — the Paramount Global subsidiary has essentially no more ad space to sell for its broadcast.
The extremely valuable ad space historically tends to sell quickly: Ahead of Week 1 in 2022, Fox had reportedly already sold 95% of its ad inventory, though it didn’t officially sell out until the days before the game. Fox made approximately $600 million in advertising revenue from Super Bowl LVII.
This year, CBS reportedly sold “at least 70%” of its available inventory for Super Bowl LVIII before training camps even began.
It’s well worth it to advertisers, as the last Super Bowl attracted a record 115.1 million viewers.
Although television ad revenue is largely down across the industry, NFL broadcasters are doing just fine.
ESPN, CBS, NBC, Fox, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube will bring in an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion this season. Disney in particular was anticipating a 17% increase in ad sales relating to its “Monday Night Football” package of games.
