“If an advertiser only ran in the Olympics and did not run in the Super Bowl, they missed 30 million people. If a Super Bowl advertiser just ran in the Super Bowl and did not run in the Olympics, they lost 42 million people,” Marshall said.
During February, NBCU has the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics, and the NBA All-Star Game, all of which have sold out ad inventory, according to the company. Following that, NBCU is continuing its sports-heavy calendar with the Spanish-language broadcast of the World Cup on Telemundo in June.
“People were starting to look at, ‘If I’m in the World Cup, if I’m in the Olympics, or I’m in the Super Bowl, how do I start to string these together?’ We started working with marketers on how to build plans, not just strict units,” Marshall said. “So when you look at it, about 70-75% of the Super Bowl advertisers will also be in the Olympics.”
Accelerating the Super Bowl playbook
NBCU showed signs of Super Bowl success early.
Last year, after initially asking for around $7 million for a 30-second spot in Super Bowl 60, NBCU’s price tag jumped to $8 million and an $8 million match across its other sports properties as early as July, ADWEEK previously reported. The company then announced a Super Bowl sellout in September, a month earlier than Fox’s announcement for Super Bowl 59.
And the success extends beyond in-game units.
Last year, pre-game ad units for Fox’s Super Bowl 59 broadcast fetched as much as $4.5 million, and post-game units reached around $4 million. One media buyer recently told ADWEEK that this year’s ads exceeded those prices, though Marshall was coy about revealing final numbers.
“Everything’s a little pricier than it was,” Marshall said.
Overtime is also already planned. In previous years, broadcasters have held live auctions for fourth-quarter overtime ad units. However, Marshall said NBCU wasn’t leaving things to chance.
“We already have conversations with advertisers, so if it happens, we actually have the game plan lined up already,” Marshall said. “I’m too nervous to sit there and not have a game plan in case overtime happens. And there have been so many events, so many close games in these playoffs, that I don’t think overtime is out of the question for this one.”
Following our interview with Marshall, a media-buying source told ADWEEK that prices were coming in at $4 million per overtime ad unit; however, NBCU couldn’t be reached for comment on the figure.
Regardless, all the pre-planning makes sense, as Marshall’s schedule for the week doesn’t have much flexibility.
With the game taking place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., Marshall will be on the West Coast on Monday for media day, with interviews and meetings scheduled throughout the week, including a stop at ADWEEK House on Feb. 6. On Saturday, Marshall has a screening of all the ads in a row, and Sunday is for scenario planning, ensuring everything is running smoothly, and spending time with clients.
