Sportcal turns 25
Date published by Sportcal: 28/01/2016
Super Bowl 50 expected to break media and advertising figures once again
By Vesela Ilarionova and Liam Thompson
The Super Bowl, the season-ending match of the National Football League (NFL), is set to take place
for the 50th time on February 7th at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and is promising to be
one of the most-watched sport events of 2016. Described as “the single biggest shared common
experience in American society” by Mark Dyreson, an associate professor of kinesiology and history
at Penn State University, the Super Bowl delivers, year-on-year, staggering numbers in terms of TV
viewership and advertising. In the list of most-watched television programmes of all time in the
United States, the Super Bowl takes first place, surpassing major international events such as the
2012 London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and the 2014 Fifa World Cup.
Big money, digital technology and real-time marketing accompany the high-calibre event that draws
record numbers each year. With the success partly attributed to the entertainment it provides in
terms of sports and commercials, and the opportunities for socialising, either in person or through
social media, TV ratings and advertising revenues continue to soar. The 2015 Super Bowl gathered
an average of 114.4 million viewers on NBC, while the average cost of a 30-minute advertising slot
was $4.5 million.
TV viewing figures
According to NFL figures, after several years of TV ratings averaging around the 40.0-41.0 mark
(roughly 84 to 86 million people) audiences rose steadily from 2005 onwards. For comparison,
ratings for the Super Bowl have never fallen below 36.0 since the first Super Bowl in 1967. The 2015
Super Bowl generated a TV rating of 47.5, with an audience of 114.4 million people – the fourth
highest rating overall, only surpassed by the 1982, 1983 and 1986 Super Bowls, and it is the winner
in terms of absolute numbers. It was not always so positive – in the early years of the new
millennium TV ratings had begun to dwindle, scoring below 42.0 for six consecutive years between
2001 and 2006. The 40th edition of the Super Bowl was the turning point and figures have gone from
41.6 in 2006 to last year’s record-smashing event. And since TV figures reported by Nielsen and
official broadcasters do not take into account social watching in locations such as sports bars, the
figures could be even higher.
NFL Super Bowl TV Ratings 2005-2015
45.0
41.1
2005
41.6
2006
42.6
2007
Source: Nielsen
43.1
2008
46.0
47.1
46.3
46.7
47.5
42.0
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Sportcal turns 25
Date published by Sportcal: 28/01/2016
Rising TV figures and the overall popularity of the event promise great return, thus generating large
TV rights deals. In 2011, the NFL signed a deal with Fox, NBC and CBS for a combined record price of
around $25.45 billion over nine years from 2014 to 2022. It was preceded by another agreement,
lasting until the 2013 season, which was worth around $1.93 billion per year. This is just the price
that the national networks pay to show the game on free-to-air television. Additional money comes
from pay-TV sports broadcaster ESPN – $1.9 billion per year – as well as international broadcasters
in the UK (Sky and BBC), Canada (CTV), Australia (Seven Network and 7mate HD), Mexico (Televisa)
and more.
Advertising
A key element of the Super Bowl, and indeed American football from a business perspective, is the
advertising that surrounds it, with the Super Bowl’s advertising slots in high demand due to the
viewing figures that it attracts across the US. A combination of limited advertising slots and high
demand has driven the price of a 30-second commercial at Super Bowl 50 up to a record $5 million,
an increase of 11 per cent ($500,000) on the price that NBC requested for the 2015 edition.
While that price may seem exorbitant, CBS has made the bold decision to live-stream every single
commercial, as close to real time as possible, in an unprecedented move in Super Bowl broadcasting
history. In previous years, advertisers were offered the opportunity to buy advertising slots for TV,
online, or both, giving them free reign on where they thought best to advertise their product. The
result of this was only 18 advertisers choosing to make their commercials available online for Super
Bowl XLIX, a low number considering there were close to 70 commercials.
Cost per 30 second commercial at the Super
Bowl 2007-2016
$5m
$4.5m
$3.5m
$2.39m
2007
Source: Nielsen
$2.7m
2008
$3.8m
$4m
$2.99m $2.95m $3.1m
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Sportcal turns 25
Date published by Sportcal: 28/01/2016
Technology
CBS’s decision to sell online and TV commercials together might not have made headline news, but it
does signify the growing importance of live streaming to the NFL and its broadcasters. Earlier this
season the NFL agreed an unprecedented deal with Yahoo, the technology giant, to provide a global
and free live stream of the regular season game between Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills. The
deal, estimated to be worth $20m, was deemed to be a success, with over 15 million unique viewers
and an average viewership of 2.36 million per minute. While these figures pale in comparison to
matches that are broadcast on TV, which average anywhere from 10 to 20 million viewers per
minute, they do show the NFL that there is a viable and growing market for sports streaming.
With advances in technology, the NFL is keen to ensure that it remains at the forefront by embracing
technology as a tool for enhancing the game. In January 2016 it was announced that Super Bowl 50
will feature an improved 360-degree replay system, with 36 cameras specially positioned around the
upper levels of Levi’s Stadium, allowing for key plays to be frozen, rotated and resumed, for the best
view of the action.
The NFL is also exploring various ways in which the viewing experience can be enhanced for viewers
at home, with three regular-season games being shot with virtual reality (VR) cameras, with a view
to possibly using the technology for future broadcasts. Speaking at the CES Sports Business Forum in
January 2016, Brad Allen, executive chair of technology firm Next VR, commented: “We’re ready to
live-stream any event today,” and went on to say “If the NFL says yes, we could do it next season.”
Meanwhile, CBS confirmed that it would be using 5K cameras at Super Bowl 50, in an as-yet
unnamed role. At Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, Fox confirmed its use of 4K cameras for its ‘Super Zoom’
feature, which allows an extreme close-up of the action, without losing picture quality.
Social media
In 2015, Super Bowl XLIX broke multiple records – 28.4 million Super Bowl-related tweets, 265
million Facebook posts, comments and likes delivered by 65 million people, and YouTube recorded 4
million hours of watched ads and teaser content on the day of the game. In comparison, in 2014
these numbers were 24.9 million tweets, 185 million posts, comments and likes on Facebook
delivered by 50 million people and only 2.2 million hours of watched content on YouTube. Although
social media is a relatively new phenomenon, the numbers show that participation is growing, rather
than diminishing, and is expected to grow even further.
Sportcal turns 25
Date published by Sportcal: 28/01/2016
Social media platforms and activity for the NFL Super Bowl in millions 2012-2015
Social media data (millions)*
2012
2013
2014
2015
Twitter tweets
13.7
24.1
25.3
28.4
Twitter users
-
-
15.3
16.1
Facebook unique users
-
-
50
65
Facebook posts, comments and likes
-
-
185
265
YouTube hours of watched content
-
-
2.2
4.4
*Source: Nielsen, various
Sporting events have gained popularity across social media in recent years – the biggest platforms
being Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. For some, it is a way to gain momentum for their campaigns.
For others, such as athletes and event organisers, it is a way of engaging people. Social media offers
a market expansion – more customers, fans, a bigger, younger audience and loyal followers. A CNBC
report on the rise of the hashtag as a means to engage and interact with people found that in 2015
half of 66 ads featured a Twitter hashtag while the Super Bowl itself has adopted the thematic #SB50
in order to hold the interest of game attendees and TV viewers.
Primarily driven by young people (18 to 24-year-olds and those under 35), this surge in social media
activity marks the rise in brand- and personality-related engagement with fans. NFL players like Tim
Tebow (3.05m Twitter followers) and Reggie Bush (2.25m) interact with their fans and promote NFL
events, including the Super Bowl, thus increasing advertising. Given the popularity of social media, it
is not surprising that real-time marketing is growing. Perhaps the most significant sign that NFL
advertising has entered social media with the intention to stay is a deal with Twitter, agreed in 2013
and extended and expanded in 2015. As part of its strategy to reach fans beyond traditional media,
the NFL agreed for Twitter to show “real-time video highlights” and effectively transferred the ad
sales duties over to its team.
With less than two weeks until Super Bowl 50, CBS Sports chair, Sean McManus, remarked: "There’s
never been a promotional campaign as large as there will be for Super Bowl 50." With high
expectations, the stage is set for Super Bowl 50 to deliver one of the biggest, if not the biggest, and
most memorable Super Bowls in recent history.