NBCUniversal has achieved a historic milestone for Super Bowl LX (Super Bowl 60), selling a handful of 30-second ad spots for $10 million or more each—the first time any broadcaster has reached that price level for the Big Game.
Mark Marshall, chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, confirmed the sales to ADWEEK, noting that average 30-second spots are around $8 million, with the premium units driven by intense marketplace demand. The inventory sold out without adding extra slots, maintaining the usual total of more than 80 spots.High demand came from several factors:Early sales outreach starting in fall 2024, earlier than previous years.
Bundled packages combining Super Bowl exposure with the 2026 Winter Olympics (also on NBCU) and other events like the NBA All-Star Game.
More brands requesting multiple units or longer 60-second spots (examples include Novartis, Rocket, and OpenAI), which quickly strained available inventory.
Marshall attributed much of the success to strong demand rather than strategy alone, though NBCU's multi-sport portfolio proved key. In the last similar overlap (2022), advertisers who skipped one event missed tens of millions of viewers—30 million without the Super Bowl or 42 million without the Olympics.
About 70-75% of this year's Super Bowl advertisers are also buying into the Olympics, as marketers increasingly seek integrated plans across NBCU's upcoming events, including the Spanish-language World Cup broadcast on Telemundo in June.
All ad inventory for February's major NBCU events—Super Bowl, Winter Olympics, and NBA All-Star Game—has sold out, underscoring the network's dominant position in premium sports advertising.