The Super Bowl is the single-biggest event in America each year, with millions of people tuning in to watch the game itself, the halftime show and the commercials.
It’s probably the only time people actually get excited about ads.
But there's a good reason to get excited. Typically, the commercials are the best of the best. We’re talking about high-profile movie trailers, Hollywood A-listers stepping down from the silver screen and some of the most charming or hilarious ads you’ll ever see.
In some ways, the commercials are a perfect time capsule of the American zeitgeist. The best ones may be timeless, sure, but most of the funniest are so fittingly of the era they came from. (The wazzzup?! Budweiser ad comes to mind).
Knowing how many people will be in front of their televisions for the game, it’s no surprise that it costs a pretty penny or two to get ad space during the Super Bowl.
But how much is it, exactly?
What is the Cost of a 30-Second Super Bowl Commercial in 2025?
Super Bowl LIX is on Feb. 9, 2025. Just one week after Halloween, FOX had sold all the ad slots for the game. Three months ahead of time. That’s one of the earliest sellouts in the last 10 years.
And each 30-second ad spot reportedly sold for $7 million.
With nearly 114 million American viewers tuning in last season, it’s easy to see why companies like Coors Light, Dunkin’ Donuts, Nerds or Budweiser are lining up (again), despite the high price tag.
It’s worth noting that in 2004 an ad cost approximately $2.3 million. By 2010 it had increased to just $2.9 million, so a pretty moderate increase. Just six years later a 30-second ad spot cost about $5 million.
Last year, CBS was asking between $6.5 million and $7 million for an ad. Naturally we’d see an increase in the asking price year over year. But there was some extra motivation for FOX to squeeze out as much cash as possible, because the network won’t host another Super Bowl until 2029.
How Super Bowl Commercial Costs Compare to Other Major Events
Simply put, there’s no comparison between the Super Bowl ad costs and any other American event. It’s in a league of its own.
In 2018 it cost advertisers roughly $750,000 for a 30-second spot during Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Adjusted for inflation, that works out to be just under $1 million in 2024.
Capital One became the sponsor of college football’s Orange Bowl in 2014. The company hasn’t revealed the price it pays annually, but it has been reported that it is somewhere in the $25 million range.
FOX also aired the World Series in 2024, which featured a high-profile matchup between two of the biggest franchises in the history of the sport: the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. The network was asking for roughly $500,000 for an ad spot.
The ROI of a Super Bowl Commercial: Is It Worth the Price?
So is an ad $7 million well spent?
It’s complicated. And it depends on a number of factors.
On one hand, a company knows the Super Bowl broadcast is a vehicle for roughly 100 million people. But that doesn’t even take into account the extra traffic that will come via social media and YouTube.
On the other, it is an extremely cumbersome amount of money to justify spending.
For some companies, the play isn’t necessarily to get you to run out and buy something. Many car companies advertise during the Super Bowl. Volkswagen, Kia, Toyota and BMW all aired commercials during the Super Bowl in 2024, simply because they wanted consumers to consider them as an option.
Studies have shown that marketing can play a massive role (whether conscious or subconscious) when it comes to Americans purchasing automobiles. So for carmakers, the plan is to insert the idea that their cars are premium pieces of luxury equipment, then hope that recency bias takes care of the rest.
For others, it’s about dominating a particular field. If someone sneezes, we’re willing to bet the odds are about 50/50 as to whether they get offered a “tissue” or a “Kleenex.” The brand has become synonymous with the item, which is the ultimate goal of any company.
And for others still, the goal is catered more toward social media and keeping people talking about the product or the company. Last February, Dunkin’ Donuts shelled out big-time dollars for Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Tom Brady, Jack Harlow and Jennifer Lopez. The ad went viral and the company released an extended version of the spot, which clocked in at more than four minutes, shortly after the game.
Then there are movie trailers, which can be extremely expensive since 30 seconds might not be enough to captivate the audience. In some cases, studios will opt for teaser trailers during the game only to release the full trailer online the next day. But sometimes a studio will lay it all on the line, like in 2018 when Universal spent $12 million on a 90-second trailer for “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” That remains the most expensive Super Bowl movie trailer ever.
The most expensive ads in Super Bowl history both came in 2019: Google and Amazon each spent $16.8 million.
Google’s ad was an emotional spot centered around an elderly man trying to hold on to the memories he had of his late wife. It highlighted one’s ability to use Google Assistant to literally remember small details for you, should you ask it to.
Amazon went down a comedic route, asking viewers what life was like before Alexa. The ad featured married couple Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Much Does it Cost to Get a Super Bowl Commercial in 2025?.