Through five weeks of the 2015 season, television networks have found that advertisers are still bullish on the National Football League. Advertising Age reports that CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and NFL Network have sold a collective $942.5 million going into Week 6 and that’s ahead of the same point last year. In fact at the same point last year, the season started a week earlier so through six weeks in 2014, the five networks sold $936 million.
As you’d expect, Daily Fantasy Sports sites are among the top advertisers in 2015, FanDuel has spent the most with $44.1 million followed by Verizon having spent $33 then DraftKings at $31.2 million.
Even as FanDuel and DraftKings have spent the big bucks to maintain a big presence on NFL games, other sponsors have not been shut out. Cars (Toyota, Chevrolet and Ford), fast food restaurants (McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway), beer (Corona, Bud Light, Michelob) and insurance companies (Geico, State Farm, Nationwide) have purchased advertising time during games.
While it seems we’re seeing FanDuel and DraftKings ads in every ad break during the games, the evidence shows that more marketers are advertising on the NFL:
According to iSpot.tv, no fewer than 434 brands have advertised in NFL games over the first five weeks of the season, up 63% from 266 in the year-ago period.
Those brands are all chasing the unparalleled reach of the NFL, which is far and away the highest-rated programming segment on TV.
And the audience seeing the ads in the games are up from last year. The primetime packages, Sunday, Monday and Thursday Night Football are up in viewership and the Sunday afternoon networks, CBS and Fox are also experiencing strong numbers this season.
So as the networks sell their ads for the rest of the season, they can rest assured that they have a good roster of sponsors who will continue to purchase time on the NFL knowing full well the ratings will justify their spending.
