Disney’s push for the first Super Bowl touchdown in 20 years is in danger of being thwarted by some serious defense.
The company has told advertisers it believes it should pay $10 million for a 30-second ad for Super Bowl XI, which the company will air on TV in 2027, but the high price tag has some marketers on the sidelines, according to four people familiar with the recent negotiations. In recent years, Super Bowl broadcasters like Fox and NBC have managed to sell 40% to 60% of their big game ad schedules shortly before the industry’s annual “upfront” sales season begins in May, but Disney’s Super Bowl sales efforts have not made similar progress, officials say.
“The original asking price was $10 million,” one of the people said, “but there’s a big difference between where we started and where advertisers want us to be.” Disney also wanted the equivalent of $10 million to spend elsewhere in its media portfolio, a practice that has become more common among Super Bowl networks over the years, the people said.
A person familiar with the matter said Disney is in “active dialogue and negotiations across the market” and has “more demand for sales than inventory.” The key, of course, is to turn inventory registrations into actual orders. Many of the company’s discussions also include a broader package of its entire media portfolio, as well as a broader sports inventory that includes MLB.TV and Monday Night Football, the person said. Such debates are more complex than those about a single ad.
Super Bowl ad prices have risen rapidly in recent years, but Madison Avenue may be at the point where it’s asking itself, “How much more can I afford to pay?”
Disney’s plans for the Super Bowl are ambitious. The company’s rights agreement with the NFL calls for the game to be shown on both ABC and ESPN, with another “replacement cast” led by Peyton and Eli Manning to appear on ESPN2. The telecast will take place on February 14, Valentine’s Day, and the following Monday is President’s Day, a federal holiday. “What an opportunity for us,” Andy Tennant, a veteran ESPN producer who was named associate presenter for the Super Bowl production last January, told Variety in February. “We see the Super Bowl as an opportunity for everyone to come together to celebrate the greatest single game on Earth.”
Meanwhile, there’s a lot of conversation about leveraging different parts of Disney’s media empire to engage other audiences who might not normally tune in to football spectacles.
Advertisers have proven in recent years that they are willing to spend a lot of money on the Super Bowl. In the streaming era, there are few venues that can attract large audiences and have everyone watching at the same time. Blue-chip marketing companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, and PepsiCo are among those often featured on the event’s advertising roster. In 2016, Super Bowl ads sold for about $5 million, which was considered an exorbitant amount at the time. That number is only going to rise. Still, the network behind the classic gridiron has treaded cautiously, setting its initial asking price at about $7 million over the past few years rather than pursuing the highest potential price.
Super Bowl broadcasters tend to first start negotiations with so-called “incumbents,” marketers who held positions at the NFL extravaganza the last time the network broadcast it or the previous year. Some of these sponsors have multi-year deals where they commit to advertising at the Super Bowl and purchasing multiple units. These advertisers spend huge amounts of money on advertising, so they expect to pay better rates. Later in the process, networks often work with small businesses looking to make it to the Super Bowl for the first time, and these inexperienced clients often lack long-term relationships with news organizations to help keep prices down.
Disney may have reason for optimism. Before NBC closed sales related to this year’s Super Bowl LX telecast, Mark Marshall, the company’s chief sales officer, revealed that the company had sold a “handful” of spots for more than $10 million. What’s the problem? NBC began the process by asking about $7 million for 30 seconds of ad time, a price so attractive that it sparked strong demand. By the time NBC was nearing the end of its sales period, there was so much interest in low supply that it pushed prices into record territory. In fact, most of the company’s Super Bowl ad inventory sold for between $7 million and $8 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
Disney could risk entering the general “pre-pay” market with Super Bowl inventory still having problems selling normally. If Disney is unable to reach an agreement with a potential advertiser, some of the money held by advertisers for the Super Bowl could be spent on other properties, according to some people familiar with the negotiations.
Entertainment giants need to tread carefully into this competitive arena. Super Bowl XI is the centerpiece of a massive live event schedule that Disney has been promoting to advertisers for months. Over eight weeks in early 2027, Disney’s television and streaming properties will also feature Super Bowl XI, as well as the College Football Playoff, the Oscars, and the Grammys.
One challenge Disney faces, according to four people familiar with the matter, is that it doesn’t have a Super Bowl sales expert, someone who has long managed sales for the big game. The last time ABC televised the Super Bowl, the asking price (by modern standards) for a 30-second ad was just $2.5 million. Since then, some networks have been able to increase their commercial inventory by negotiating with the NFL for so-called “floating” ad inventory. Find a way to sell ads that only run when the game goes into overtime. and links to network elements like pregame shows and the sportscasters themselves.
Indeed, at some point in the sales process, advertisers may consider $10 million a bargain. But they’re not there yet.
