2021 Super Bowl

In a slightly more positive result than the 9% Nielsen-measured NFL Super Bowl viewership decline, the average commercial unit rate for the big game this year sank 5% to an average $4.73 million for a 30-second ad, according to Standard Media Index.

Despite low ratings, ViacomCBS’ network generated a record $545 million in advertising spending during the NFL’s Super Bowl LV this past Sunday, according to preliminary estimates from research firm Kantar.

There was a lot of history at Super Bowl LV on Sunday. Unfortunately, not all of it looks good when it comes to the ratings  — and we’re not just talking about Nielsen’s unprecedented delay in getting the actual data out. In figures released this morning by CBS Sports, the big game had a total audience of 96.4 million viewers on CBS and a bundle of platforms and outlets.

The industry rallied to pull off often epic productions during a pandemic — with wildly mixed results.

The crop of Super Bowl ads 2021 employed a large contingent of A-list celebrities in front and behind the camera and featured major Hollywood brands. Not surprisingly, they dominated the list of most watched Super Bowl commercials on YouTube during gameday.

Some users had trouble logging into the live-streaming service from ViacomCBS during the National Anthem and some of the opening moments of the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. Some twitter users complained of the crash, while the website DownDetector.com reported problems with CBS All Access were up around 3:30 p.m. PT, when the game was just getting started. Complaints went down in the ensuing minutes and it appears that the streaming service was down for only a few moments, they just happen to be some of the most-viewed moments of the year on television.

This year’s Super Bowl once again will be livestreamed for free online. And CBS, which has the broadcast rights to the 2021 NFL championship game, is expecting a record rushing record from the internet. “Every year I feel like we’re on the verge of breaking the internet,” says Jeff Gerttula, EVP-GM of CBS Sports Digital. He’s only half joking. CBS Sports Digital has stress-tested its streaming infrastructure for the past year leading up to Super Bowl LV on Sunday, Jan. 7, to make sure it can handle the load.

Brown hosted Fox’s pregame for the 2002 Super Bowl, which occurred nearly five months after 9/11. With the coronavirus pandemic still at the forefront, Brown realizes Sunday’s Super Bowl Today show could offer the same opportunities, but in a different manner.

The pop star said he will “keep it PG” during his headliner slot on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium as the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida. He promised to be “respectful to the viewers.”

New camera angles and innovative AR graphics will mark Tampa’s Super Bowl LV with a sparser crowd allowing for novel camera positions and experimentation.

The year’s biggest TV advertising day will include nods to a difficult time — and Dolly Parton, who recorded a variation on her 1980 hit 9 to 5 for a Squarespace commercial (above).

Ford Motor Co. is planning a strategic media buy for its #FinishStrong campaign on Sunday’s Super Bowl LV, targeting areas hard hit by COVID-19 including southern California, Texas, Florida and Kansas City. Those areas are being targeted based on data and analysis from the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

When Mountain Dew released a teaser of its new Super Bowl commercial last week, the clip featured a computer-animated dog made of watermelons — and no people. That was by design. With COVID-19 still spreading, Mountain Dew’s ad agency made the spot with as small a crew as possible and as far apart as the team could keep them. Producers watched the shoot from home. A backup crew was ready to replace anyone who tested positive.

Keeping announcers separated until game day has been CBS’ protocol this season. With many of the ancillary events surrounding Super Bowl week either canceled or happening virtually — along with the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers remaining at their own complexes to practice — the week is nearly structured like their first meeting on Nov. 29. Tony Romo and Jim Nantz were inseparable when CBS broadcast the Super Bowl two years ago. Next week, they won’t see each other until they are in the broadcast booth a couple hours prior to kickoff.

ViacomCBS is “virtually” sold out of commercial inventory in Super Bowl LV, a company spokeswoman confirmed. This is similar phrasing CBS has used in prior games. While all inventory is accounted for, if a brand comes in with an attractive offer they could find an opportunity. A 30-second commercial in the game was going for about $5.5 million to $5.6 million, according to multiple buyers familiar with the situation.

Anheuser-Busch will still run ads for Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, but says it will funnel Bud’s investment into a vaccine awareness campaign.

That includes about 7,500 vaccinated health-care workers who will be invited as guests of the league.

CBS Sports said it plans to stream the Super Bowl across multiple platform, including its subscription streaming service CBS All Access. Broadcast coverage of Super Bowl LV will also stream unauthenticated and for free on the CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports app. The big game will also be free on Verizon properties including Yahoo Sports,  on NFL digital properties and NFL team mobile properties.

The Super Bowl has long served as a prominent front for the long-running soda war between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. This year, the beverage giants will fight that battle somewhere else. Coca-Cola said Friday it would not run ads in CBS’s broadcast of Super Bowl LV, citing a “difficult choice” made to “ensure we are investing in the right resources during these unprecedented times.” Coke’s announcement follows a similar one made by rival Pepsi, which has opted to focus on its annual halftime show rather than run commercials for its flagship drink.

The eye network is about 75% to 80% sold out of commercial time in Super Bowl LV, with about eight to 10 spots left, according to media buyers and people familiar with negotiations. Buyers say there is a contingency plan in place to play the Super Bowl later in February if COVID complications make that necessary. While Super Bowl LV is slated to air on CBS on Feb. 7, there is a makeup date of Feb. 28, according to media buyers.

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, CBS executives expect their sales process to take longer than Fox’s did last year, according to two people familiar with the matter, and note that one factor giving potential sponsors pause is figuring out what kind of tone to strike with audiences next year.

The NFL tells Adweek it is “exploring” having a Super Bowl with around 20% capacity at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

Going into the 2020 season, the NFL knew that trying to play out its entire schedule during a pandemic wouldn’t be easy and the league was definitely right. Through the first six weeks of the season, the NFL has already had to reschedule more than a dozen games. Although the league has had to reshuffle the schedule, one thing the NFL hasn’t had to do yet is reschedule its biggest game, the Super Bowl. However, not only could that end up happening this year, but the game could be pushed back all the way to March if games keep getting postponed.

ViacomCBS Inc.’s CBS is seeking around $5.5 million for 30-second commercial spots in next year’s Super Bowl, roughly in line with commercial prices in the 2020 game, according to people close to the talks. CBS is also requiring advertisers in the Super Bowl telecast to appear in the game’s online stream, at an additional cost of roughly $200,000, a person familiar with the matter said.

In the early moments of the annual game to lure advertisers to the Super Bowl, ViacomCBS is first and long.

Signing 60 to 70 automakers, snack manufacturers and tech marketers to sponsor the biggest TV event of the year is never an easy task. But doing so will be tougher for the newly-merged media conglomerate, owing to a coronavirus pandemic that has thrown the sports business into disarray and forced advertisers to tighten their purse strings. ViacomCBS, which has the rights to broadcast the extravaganza in 2021, will have to reassure would-be Big Game sponsors about the NFL’s ability to mount a new season even as it tries to get the best prices possible.