The Baltimore Ravens took on the Houston Texans on Christmas Day 2024. The game was streamed live on Netflix.
The Baltimore Ravens took on the Houston Texans on Christmas Day 2024. The game was streamed live on Netflix. (Still frame via TV broadcast, courtesy National Football League/Netflix)
Key Points:
NFL ads generated $5.2 billion in national TV revenue last year and were up to 243% more effective than average television spots, with the Super Bowl delivering the highest impact.
Streaming-exclusive NFL games outperformed traditional broadcasts, with Peacock, Amazon and Netflix events driving ad effectiveness increases of 51% to 116%.
Brand categories including financial services, food and beverage, insurers, and pharmaceuticals all saw significant ad lift during NFL games, with pharma brands benefiting most from streaming opportunities.
The National Football League (NFL) continues to deliver unrivaled value for advertisers, according to the third annual NFL TV Outcomes Report released this week by ads measurement firm EDO.
NFL broadcasts generated $5.2 billion in national television advertising last year, with ads airing during games far outperforming traditional TV commercials, EDO said in the report. During the 2024 regular season, NFL ads were 19 percent more effective than the television average — an average that grew by 63 percent during the playoffs and which surged to 243 percent on Super Bowl Sunday.
“The NFL is so important to the TV ecosystem overall that it is, on average, more effective than all other types of advertising on TV,” said Kevin Krim, the President and CEO of EDO.
The NFL attracted more than 550 brand advertisers in 2024, with EDO estimating it would take 23 non-NFL commercials to equal the impact of a single NFL ad.
But the report also highlighted the growing strength of NFL streaming exclusives. Ads placed during streaming-only broadcasts were 66 percent more effective than those on broadcast or cable. Amazon Prime Video’s Black Friday game outperformed the NFL’s traditional Thanksgiving lineup, with ads 51 percent more effective. Netflix’s first Christmas Day games proved even more valuable, with ads 84 percent more effective for entertainment brands and 70 percent more effective for pharmaceuticals compared to average NFL broadcasts.
Peacock’s exclusive game between Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024 delivered 116 percent higher ad effectiveness than the TV average, boosting engagement for brands including Applebee’s, Little Caesars, and Subway.
Amazon’s Wild Card playoff game was another strong performer, with ads 68 percent more effective than the TV average. Across playoff rounds, EDO measured that NFL ads were 51 percent more effective during the divisional round and 75 percent stronger during the conference championships, with the value of one ad equating to as many as 218 prime-time spots.
The outcomes extended across entire industry sectors. Financial services brands saw their ads perform 27 percent better during the regular season and 47 percent better during the playoffs. Food and beverage brands improved by 8 percent and 34 percent, respectively, while insurers increased effectiveness by 19 percent in the regular season and 56 percent in the playoffs. For luxury automakers, the lift reached 42 percent in the regular season and 62 percent in the postseason.
Pharmaceutical advertisers in particular benefited from streaming. EDO noted that direct-to-consumer brand Hims & Hers saw 771 percent greater engagement during the Super Bowl compared to the average game ad.
“Streaming introduces the opportunity for these big pharma companies…to buy a slot and target different folks,” Krim noted.
EDO also found that featuring NFL players in ads provided an additional lift. Regular-season ads starring athletes were 13 percent more effective than those without. Spots featuring Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and coach Andy Reid delivered gains of 21 percent, 37 percent, and 67 percent respectively.
“Celebrities are here to stay when it comes to big-event advertising,” Krim said. “You need authenticity with the connection to your brand and the creative idea being conveyed in the ad.”
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