Mickey Mouse may have to perform some tricky plays to win the Super Bowl cheddar.
Disney, which has pressured advertisers to come up with $10 million for a 30-second spot and a $10 million “match” for other ad space tied to Super Bowl XI in 2027, appears willing to negotiate and backtrack on some of its previous demands, according to five people familiar with the current discussions. Disney is selling more than a dozen 30-second spots for about $9 million each and is accepting offers to counter the “matches” it had previously sought, three people familiar with the matter said.
“Nobody jumped at that $10 million demand or ‘game’,” said a media buying executive familiar with recent negotiations with Disney. “It was surreal.”
Disney’s progress toward selling out the Super Bowl has been slower than recent standards, and its aggressive pricing has raised eyebrows across the industry. In recent years, Super Bowl broadcasters like Fox and NBC have managed to sell 40% to 60% of their big game ad schedules ahead of TV’s annual “upfront” market, where media conglomerates try to sell the bulk of their commercial ad time. Many of Disney’s current Super Bowl deals are secured with “independents,” meaning advertisers who are not represented by one of the industry’s major media buying agencies, and who don’t have deep relationships with Disney that could help negotiate better pricing overall, two people said.
Some recent Super Bowl buyers are from sectors such as AI finance and pharmaceuticals, and some of these buyers are “new non-traditional entrants,” according to two people familiar with recent sales. A more established marketer with a long track record in the Super Bowl could hold out on better terms, buyers suggested.
Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, who spoke to advertising executives and marketing executives Tuesday at Disney’s big “Upfront” presentation, noted that the company controls a significant portion of soccer, the most popular game on TV. Between ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” ESPN’s “College Gameday” and dozens of college games, Disney provides access to “40% of the U.S. football impressions,” she said in remarks to several hundred attendees.
Some buyers believe Disney wants to increase its share of total TV revenue spent on football, especially now that it has partnered with the NFL. Under the terms of that deal, ESPN would have control of the NFL Network and NFL Red Zone under ESPN’s protection in exchange for the league taking a minority ownership stake in the sports media giant. “I think they were trying to take advantage of that,” said one purchasing executive.
There is certainly interest in the sport, which has been the most-watched program on television in recent years, including NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” and Sunday afternoon games on FOX and CBS. All Red Zone-related sponsors have renewed, for example, and Disney has renewed contracts with seven longtime sponsors of “Monday Night Football” and its pregame show, “Monday Night Countdown,” according to people familiar with the matter.
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.
Disney may have more wiggle room than other media companies. In the traditional Super Bowl sales process, the networks broadcasting the game make early offers to “incumbents” — marketers who held positions at the NFL extravaganza the last time the network broadcast it or in the previous year. But Disney hasn’t aired a Super Bowl since 2006 and doesn’t have a notable incumbent.
“They’re starting from scratch, right? And that applies to sponsorship positions and pre-kick as well. It’s all a jump ball, so to speak,” the purchasing executive says. And Disney also hosts the Oscars, Grammys, and College Football Playoffs in the weeks before and after the Super Bowl. “I think they’re trying to use the Super Bowl to steal a share of football money from the market. If there’s ever a time to do it, it’s now,” the executive said.
But other buyers say Disney’s initial request confused the market. The longtime Super Bowl advertiser, who typically buys multiple commercials, found the initial request ($20 million for ad slots and the game) to be prohibitive. “For the last four, five, five years, unit prices have averaged about 6 to 8 percent year-over-year growth. Are we going to go up to $10 million from last year’s levels? I don’t know what that number is, but it’s not 6 to 8 percent,” the purchasing executive said.
Were Disney executives too optimistic? 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.
Executives at other companies that host the Super Bowl said they were concerned that Disney’s aggressive marketing could tarnish the Madison Avenue quality of the big game. In an era where more people stream their favorite TV shows whenever they want, more advertising dollars are flowing away from traditional TV and into digital and social media. But advertisers still need glasses for the big crowd. That’s because it’s not particularly cost-effective to place ads in front of small groups of people who watch on their own terms. And they are willing to pay for content that brings together large groups of consumers. In 2025, Fox announced an additional $800 million in advertising revenue from the Super Bowl LIX telecast.
“This isn’t Disney’s game. It’s everyone’s game,” said one executive.
Ad buyers believe Disney has had some success in reducing the amount it is asking for “games,” but they suspect the company still wants to keep prices close to its original price. “They’re looking for offers from the market. ‘Come back and bring us your number and we’ll take it,’ the purchasing executive says.”
