Network TV lives and dies by advertising, and there’s only one real game left in town when it comes to giving ad buyers what they want: Sports.
75 of the 100 most-watched 2024 primetime telecasts were sports-related, and 45 of those were NFL games. At the top of the list was, of course, Super Bowl LVIII, which (eventually) was the most-watched U.S. broadcast ever.
Variety spoke with four media executives with knowledge of the upfronts marketplace, all of whom confirmed that buyers are bullish on buying ads during sporting events… and not much else.
“Sports continues to be where the up money is,” one media-buying executive told Variety. “Are the broadcasters being very aggressive in sports? Absolutely. Are they getting what they want? No, but they’re still getting more than what we were hoping to give them. And basically, after sports, there’s no rush for any of it.”
The executives also indicated to Variety that most of the commercial inventory for NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl LX in February 2026 is already sold. The network was reportedly asking as much as $7 million for 30-second spots, but apparently, that price tag didn’t dissuade many advertisers. One buyer even said that NBC has told agencies it is “out of sale” for Super Bowl ad space.
As such, one media buyer suggested that NBC should approach the NFL to allow for more commercial time.
Doing so would not be unprecedented. Fox made that ask on several occasions when they sold out of Super Bowl ad inventory months before the game.
Even with the overwhelming demand for the Super Bowl and major sporting event advertising space, it might not be enough to stem the streaming tide.
“Ad commitments for the most recent cycle of primetime broadcast TV fell 3.5% in 2024’s upfront market, to $9.34 billion, according to Media Dynamics Inc., while commitments for primetime on cable tumbled 4.8%, to $9.065 billion,” wrote Brian Steinberg. “Meanwhile, ad commitments to streaming video hubs rose a noticeable 35.3%, hiking to $11.1 billion from $8.2 billion in the previous market. The amount committed to streaming video for the most recent TV season was greater than that devoted to primetime broadcast or primetime cable — a first for the industry.”