Big Game, Big Spending: Super Bowl Revenue Statistics

The Super Bowl is the most eagerly anticipated event on the US sporting calendar, but you don’t have to be a die-hard football fan to join in the fun.

More than half a century since the first Super Bowl, the event has evolved into so much more than the championship game of the National Football League. It’s now an unofficial American holiday.

With all the entertainment surrounding the football itself, it’s no secret that the big game inspires even bigger spending.

Super Bowl Revenue Statistics for 2024 - Editor’s Choice

• Advertisers spent a record $5.2 million on 30-second commercials during the 2019 Super Bowl.
• During the 2017 Super Bowl, in-game ads generated $385 million in revenue.
• The NFL’s 2018 championship game made $482 million in total commercial revenue.
• Adults in the United States consumed an average of $75 in food and drink during the 2017 big game and an average of $81 during the following two Super Bowls.

During the 2019 broadcast, the Super Bowl advertising cost was $5.25 million for a 30-second-long commercial.

(Statista)

With millions of football fans keeping their eyes peeled on the TV broadcast before, during, and after the game, businesses try to make the most of the NFL’s signature event by advertising their products and services to a huge and engaged audience.

Inevitably, this kind of brand exposure comes with a high price tag. According to data, the average price for a 30-second TV ad has been around $5 million over the past four years.

Super Bowl advertising revenue totaled $482 million in 2018.

(Statista, Kantar Media)

According to Kantar Media, this figure of $482 million represents the grand total of in-game, pregame, and postgame ad revenues. Super Bowl earnings from in-game ads alone amounted to $408 million in 2018.

Getting on the Super Bowl advertisers list isn't impossible, it's just extremely expensive. If you wish to showcase your products and services during the game and impress a huge audience, you really need to go big or go home. Not only will you need to feature celebrities and hire renowned filmmakers, but also you'll have to go all out with your broadcast budgeting.

In 2018, the Super Bowl’s in-game ad revenue reached almost twice what it was in 2010.

(Statista, Kantar Media)

These numbers show just how dramatically the cost of advertising during the Super Bowl keeps growing. The total amount advertisers spent on broadcasting in-game ads was $408 million in 2018, compared to a relatively minor $205 million in 2010.

Having each paid $42 million for their in-game Super Bowl commercials, Anheuser-Busch and Fiat Chrysler shared first place on the 2018 list of big spenders. Toyota Motor was next with $31 million, followed by Amazon at $26 million.

78% of viewers see Super Bowl ads as nothing more than entertainment.

(Statista, Prosper Insights & Analytics)

Based on the results of a survey compiled by Prosper Insights & Analytics, only 10% of viewers said 2019 Super Bowl commercials had converted them into customers who would pay for the products and services advertised.

Here's another fun fact to prove that the Super Bowl is not just about football; viewers spent 641,000 hours watching this year’s Super Bowl ads on YouTube before and after they were shown on game day.

23% of those who watched the 2019 Super Bowl said the commercials were their favorite part of the show.

(Prosper Insights & Analytics)

Although almost half of the viewership (43%) went with the obvious choice and cited the game as the most significant part of the event, roughly a quarter of those who tuned in said they were more excited about the commercials. The halftime show is also a major part of the Super Bowl; 13% of viewers named the music act as the most-anticipated part of Super Sunday. Lastly, for 7% of the viewers, the Super Bowl is primarily about food and family gatherings.

Total ad time during Super Bowl 2018 amounted to 51 minutes and 20 seconds.

(Statista)

The most obvious reasons behind Super Bowl ad revenue growth are the augmentation of commercial inventory and the constant expansion of commercial airtime. In 2018, 86 commercials were aired throughout the Super Bowl broadcast.

That didn’t come as a surprise, as the number of spots during Super Bowls over the past decade has oscillated between 80 and 100. Most advertisements are 30 seconds long, although some last a minute or longer. These 30-second ads are considered standard and very few spots are shorter than that.

Ads accounted for 23% of the total broadcast during the 2019 Super Bowl.

(Kantar Media)

The game itself, including half-time, went for three hours and 32 minutes, with national commercial time taking up 49 minutes and 45 seconds of the broadcast. Brand commercials accounted for 37 minutes and 25 seconds, while the rest of the time was taken up by messages from the NFL and CBS.

The average Super Bowl commercial cost has increased by 96% over the past decade.

(Kantar Media)

The average cost of a 30-second commercial in February 2008 was $2.7 million, while in 2018 advertisers had to fork out an average of $5.2 million for the same length of ad during the big game. Over the past few years, the cost of a Super Bowl commercial has surpassed $170,000 per second.

From 2009 to 2018, there was an average of eight new Super Bowl advertisers each year.

(Kantar Media)

Bumble, SimpliSafe, Expensify, ADT, Mint Mobile, and the Washington Post were the six first-time advertisers in 2019. Statistics also show that around 45% of rookie advertisers decide not to come back the following year.

35% of Super Bowl advertisers from 2018 did not advertise again in the 2019 rendition.

(Kantar Media)

In other words, of the 37 companies whose ads made appearance during the 2018 game, 13 were absent the following year, including three debutants. Super Bowl 2019 commercials promoted 38 different parent companies. Notably, some of 2018's big spenders - including Coca-Cola and Fiat Chrysler - decided to drop out.

Anheuser-Busch InBev spent an estimated $59 million on Super Bowl ad time in 2019, which was a 25-year record.

(Kantar Media)

AB InBev - the parent company of many of the world’s largest beverage brands - has been among the top two marketers at the event for at least 38 consecutive years.

The multinational drink and brewing company purchased a total of five minutes and 45 seconds of ad time this year.

Amazon spent $25 million and came second, while Deutsche Telekom, Toyota, and Google tied for third place by spending roughly $20 million each.

In comparison, AB InBev paid $42 million for in-game commercial time in 2018.

Automobile manufacturers paid $66 million combined to broadcast their commercials during the 2019 Super Bowl.

(Kantar Media)

For the 10th year in a row, auto manufacturers were the biggest spenders among all ad categories in 2019.

It’s fair to say viewers are used to seeing car brands featuring prominently in Super Bowl advertising. In 2019, five different automakers showed six commercials accounting for six minutes and 30 seconds in total.

Other categories with a consistent presence include movie studios, food manufacturers, and technology and telecommunication companies.

The 2015 game was the most-watched Super Bowl in history.

(Statista, Kantar Media, Nielsen Media Research)

Super Bowl XLIX saw a record 114.4 million viewers tune into the telecast of the game to see the New England Patriots defeat the Seattle Seahawks.

According to Nielsen Media Research, an estimated 55.3 million households followed the broadcast of the big game.

As the TV ratings keep growing, so does the price of commercials. The average cost of a 30-second ad was $4.40 million that year.

Fox declared a sell-out of its complete in-game commercial inventory almost two and a half months ahead of the 2020 Super Bowl.

(Variety.com)

For the first time in five years, the network broadcasting the game didn't have to wait until the last minute to distribute its costly ad slots among high-profile advertisers.

On November 22, 2019, Fox’s executive vice president of sports sales, Seth Winter, announced that there were no more in-game ad slots available.

Fox's asking price for 30-second in-game Super Bowl ads was reportedly as high as $5.6 million. For the most sought-after pre- and post-game slots, advertisers had to pay more than $2 million.

As of 2020, each Super Bowl quarter will contain four ad breaks instead of five.

(Variety.com)

Despite eliminating four commercial breaks, Fox will not cut back on the total number of ad positions. In other words, there will be fewer ad breaks during Super Bowl LIV, but the remaining intermissions will last longer.

Football fans may approve of this reform, but from an advertiser's point of view, the NFL's new advertising plan definitely isn't perfect. From now on, there will be fewer of the most popular ad positions: the first and last position in each ad break.

The changes prompted advertisers to buy air time well in advance, so it seems Super Bowl commercial revenue won't suffer from these changes.

Consumers spent an estimated $81 each on the Super Bowl in 2019.

(Prosper Insights & Analytics)

According to a survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics for the National Retail Federation, 72% of adults in America tuned into the big game in 2019.

Exactly 79% of them bought food and drinks, 10% purchased team accessories, and 7% decided to splurge on a new television.

Those aged between 35 and 44 spend around $123.26, the most of any age demographic. People aged 65 and older spend the least on average: $40.97.

The average Super Bowl ticket price was $12 in the 1960s.

(Statista, Ticket City)

Throughout the 2010s, however, the average ticket price has skyrocketed to around $2,800. It’s evident that the cost of Super Bowl tickets has inflated to a ridiculous extent over the past 50 or so years.

On the other hand, the amount of money you’d pay to attend any other NFL game is much smaller.

According to Statista's Fan Cost Index, the average cost of taking a family to an NFL game during the regular season is $540.52.

Players on the team that won the 2019 Super Bowl earned an estimated $118,000 each.

(CNBC)

The consolation prize for the losing team is a good remedy for disappointment, too. While members of the New England Patriots team left the championship with $118,000 apiece, the Super Bowl profits for the vanquished Los Angeles Rams amounted to $59,000 per player.

Super Bowl money facts show that these amounts were slightly lower in 2018; the winning Philadelphia Eagles received $112,000 each, while their opponents made $56,000 apiece.

NFL referees earn around $201,000 per year.

(Money.com, National Football League, Bureau of Labor Statistics)

According to the National Football League's website, there are only 122 referees employed in the NFL at the time of writing this article. These game officials reportedly make between $4,000 and $10,000 per game. Meanwhile. their part-time job earns the NFL referees more than $200,000 annually. In general, the average salary of officials is in other sports is dramatically lower. Based on the data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for referees, umpires, and other officials across all sports was just $27,020 per year in 2018.

The amount of money Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will receive for their 2020 Super Bowl halftime performance: $0.

(CNBC)

If you’ve been wondering how much the halftime performance stars get paid, the answer is rather simple - not a dime. Admittedly, the NFL and the Super Bowl sponsors take care of all the production costs for them, but the performers don't earn any money from the show itself. So why would Shakira and Jennifer Lopez bother performing at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on February 2, 2020?

Although they won't get any actual cash for the music act, halftime performers have so much more to gain from Super Sunday. The privilege to make an appearance in front of over 100 million Americans definitely pays off. Some musicians even use the opportunity to make a political statement.

Of course, data also indicates that performers' record sales inevitably go through the roof thanks to the massive exposure provided by the event.

Approximately $145.94 million was wagered in Nevada's sportsbooks on Super Bowl LIII.

(Statista)

Regardless of who wins or loses, the big game day is always a massive day for sports betting. The record was set during the Eagles vs. Patriots game in 2018, when Nevada sportsbooks’ total handle amounted to roughly $158.59 million.

Even though it represents an 8% decrease compared to the 2018 handle, the 2019 figure was still the second-highest handle of the past 15 years.

The Dallas Cowboys have been the NFL's most valuable team for 13 years in a row.

(Forbes)

Although their last Super Bowl appearance took place back in the 1995 season, the Dallas Cowboys are still worth more than any other NFL franchise, with an estimated value of $5.5 billion.

New England Patriots hold second place with $4.1 billion, while the New York Giants, worth $3.9 billion, came third on the 2019 list of NFL teams.

According to Forbes, the 2018 season was, financially speaking, a very successful one for the Cowboys. They earned an operating income of $420 million, which is more than any team has ever made, across all sports.

The 2018 Super Bowl ring was made of 10K white gold and embellished with 219 diamonds and 17 green sapphires.

(CNN)

The first ring ever produced was embellished with just a single one-carat diamond and awarded to the Green Bay Packers, the 1967 champions.

More recent rings, like the one created for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018, are worth tens of thousands of dollars in gemstones alone. However, the exact cost of each ring can vary wildly and is almost never disclosed.

The number of Super Bowl rings awarded every year can be anywhere between 300 and 900.

(CNN)

The exact number usually depends on the size of the organization as well as on the preferences of the owner. Here’s one of those Super Bowl facts you might not have known; due to superstition, the rings are neither designed nor produced until after the big game.

Only once we know who the NFL champions of that year are does the process begin.

There's only one Vince Lombardi Trophy. The winning team as a whole receives this award, but the rings have great sentimental value as a piece of custom memorabilia that every team member gets to treasure.