Cost of Super Bowl Commercial Prices Over the Years (30-Seconds)

January 24, 2017 by in NFL

The Super Bowl has become a larger than life event. When the New England Patriots face off against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI all eyes will be on the big game. Most will be tuned in to see who wins on the field. As you know, that’s not all that’s worth watching.

For the majority of the year, most of will do whatever we can do to avoid commercials. Not so much in the Super Bowl. This is the one time, where we get excited for a break in the action. Given how many people are tuning in, advertisers pull out all the stops.

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They hype around commercials started with Super Bowl XVII. That was the year Apple introduced the “1984” commercial. It advertised the Macintosh computer by playing George Orwell’s Book “1984.” Since that point, the creativity has only got better.

So much attention is given to commercials, they remain a topic of conversation for days. Online and print media alike now go as far as critiquing the best and worst Super Bowl ads.

In recent years, Budweiser has been both the king of beers and the king of creative Super Bowl ads.

Ever wonder what a commercial slot during the Super Bowl costs? Well, this year the FOX TV network, which is broadcasting the game, has been asking for upwards of $5.0 million for 30 seconds of ad time. Let me do some simple math for ya. That’s roughly $166,666 per second of TV time.

That’s pretty much right on par with what we saw last year. Though final numbers could have it slightly more than 2016. Keep in mind just two years ago (2015) the price was $4.5 million. That was a significant jump from 2014’s price mark of $4.0 million. It wasn’t even until 1994 that we first saw a 30-second add go for $1.0 million.

But if you think that’s a lot of money, it’s nothing compared to how much is bet on the Super Bowl.

You also have to keep in mind that the $5 million asking price is just to get the 30-second slot time. It doesn’t factor in the cost of producing the commercial, which for most companies is another $1.0 million.

Here’s a detailed look at how prices have inflated over the years.

History of Super Bowl Commercial Prices (30 second ad)

YearCost
2017$5,000,000
2016$5,000,000
2015$4,500,000
2014$4,000,000
2013$3,800,000
2012$3,500,000
2011$3,000,000
2010$2,800,000
2009$3,000,000
2008$2,700,000
2007$2,600,000
2006$2,500,000
2005$2,400,000
2004$2,250,000
2003$2,100,000
2002$1,900,000
2001$2,050,000
2000$2,100,000
1999$1,600,000
1998$1,300,000
1997$1,200,000
1996$1,100,000
1995$1,000,000
1994$900,000
1993$850,000
1992$800,000
1991$800,000
1990$700,000
1989$675,000
1988$600,000
1987$575,000
1986$550,000
1985$500,000
1984$450,000
1983$400,000
1982$345,000
1981$324,300
1980$275,000
1979$222,000
1978$185,000
1977$162,000
1976$125,000
1975$110,000
1974$107,000
1973$103,500
1972$86,000
1971$72,000
1970$78,200
1969$67,500
1968$54,000
1967$40,000

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