NBCUniversal projected it would take in more than $1 billion in ad revenue from its broadcasts of Super Bowl LII and the Winter Olympics from PyeongChang, South Korea, both of which are set to be telecast next February, a remarkable sign of confidence in advertiser interest in both sports events.
Muhammad Ali Enterprises, a unit of New York brand licensing and development firm Authentic Brands Group, filed a complaint Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois seeking more than $30 million from Fox Broadcasting Co., citing it was owed money because the 21st Century Fox-owned unit used an unauthorized representation of Ali in a three-minute promotional pregame video before the start of Super Bowl LI earlier this year.
It appeared the metal-driven formula of traditional car ads wouldn’t be used much this year — and then Alfa Romeo came out of nowhere and burned rubber all over everybody’s screens with three ads for the new Giulia sedan.
Fox To Deliver Fresh Super Bowl Perspective
Every year broadcasters roll out some spectacular new technology to add a bit of sizzle to their production of the Super Bowl, and this year’s contest in Houston will be no exception. Fox Sports along with its partner Intel will deploy “Be The Player,” a high-tech system that relies on 38 4K cameras and two racks full of Intel Blade servers to give fans a point-of-view perspective of an individual player on the field. Above: The Fox Sports Super Bowl LI broadcast team will provide game coverage from this booth overlooking NRG Stadium in Houston. (Fox Sports photo)
In a letter, GNC told Fox it suffered “significant economic and reputational damages,” over the rejection of its Super Bowl spot.
Don’t want to watch the game on TV? Peter Kafka lays out your streaming options, including FoxSportsGo.com, the Fox Sports Go app for iOS, Android and Amazon tablets, along with Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast and Xbox. And if you’re a Verizon customer, you can watch via the NFL app.
The Super Bowl is a popular destination for commercials showcasing premium water, candy and beer — but politics can make it a difficult forum. 84 Lumber was told to change an ad showing a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, highlighting the difficulty of ensuring a bipartisan broadcast.
Super Bowl Sunday is often called a national holiday, and after this season the beleaguered NFL can certainly use one. Competition from the presidential election and having a few familiar mega-stars missing on the field led to a 8% ratings drop during the regular season. But there appears to be little concern on Madison Avenue that any of those issues will diminish the massive TV audience of more than 100 million viewers expected to watch the Fox telecast of Super Bowl LI when the New England Patriots play the Atlanta Falcons in Houston.
The biggest Super Bowl TV commercial now on the air is Humpty Fall, a teaser TV spot for TurboTax with some $4.6 million in estimated national TV media spend, registering 87.9 million total TV impressions — linear, time-shifted, VOD and other networks — according to iSpot.tv.
Warner/Chappell Music ‘Scores’ Super Bowl Spot
GNC said Tuesday it was notified that it will not be allowed to air the ad it created — or any ad — during the game Sunday because it violates an NFL policy against having supplements advertised during its games.
Joel and Ethan Coen have directed their first Super Bowl ad, a 30-second spot for the Mercedes-AMG brand, a new point of differentiation from the luxury automaker.
For the first time since TV networks have been simultaneously streaming the Super Bowl along with their traditional linear airing of the game, a network will be featuring local advertising from their TV affiliates in the digital broadcast. Fox said its Fox Sports Go digital platform will offer Super Bowl LI, live as a non-authenticated stream with local advertising, partnering with more than 170 Fox affiliates around the country.
On Feb. 5, Canadian viewers of the Super Bowl for the first time will be able to watch those flashy Super Bowl ads live on TV for the first time. Before this year, Super Bowl commercials were blocked in Canada because the Canadian broadcaster was allowed to substitute its ads for U.S. ads on the American feed. This year’s change has infuriated the NFL>
Bell Media, which owns Canada’s CTV, and the NFL formally filed notices of appeal of a recent Canadian court ruling upholding a ban on substituting Canadian ads for American ones during the game.
No matter what happens in the NFL playoffs, Pittsburgh will have a presence in the Feb. 5 broadcast of Super Bowl LI in Houston. GNC Holdings, whose world headquarters is on Sixth Avenue, Downtown, announced Tuesday it will, for the first time, advertise during the big game as part of its One New GNC brand relaunch.
GoDaddy, the web-services provider with the upstart attitude, is making a return to Super Bowl advertising after sitting out Super Bowl 50 this year. The company plans to run a single 30-second commercial in the first half of the game.
Fox lags behind where CBS was, with more than a dozen spots still left to sell. It could be a reflection on the NFL’s ratings declines or economic uncertainty. But online sales are hot.
Fox is about 90% sold out of commercial time for Super Bowl LI, according to a person familiar with the situation. While some marketers have raised concerns over the slump in NFL ratings this season, the prospect of a Cowboys-Patriots Super Bowl is also generating buzz as Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 5 approaches.
The Anheuser-Busch InBev brand will go to the Super Bowl for the first time on Feb. 5, 2017, as the company is looking to highlight its value brand portfolio. Deutsch, which won creative duties for Busch and Busch Light in August, will handle the spot.
Fox wants to kick the cost of Super Bowl advertising over a new line. Fox Sports is seeking more than $5 million for a 30-second commercial in its 2017 broadcast of Super Bowl LI.