Disney disclosed on its earnings call this morning that its Super Bowl ad inventory is sold out, ahead of recent years, when sales bled into the season. Fox, two years ago, put the sold-out sign up in November, whereas CBS Sports for the Seahawks’ 2026 win over the New England Patriots sold out around the start of that season.
Disney executives did not disclose what the average price is for a typical 30-second spot, though reports have pegged as much as $9-10 million per ad. The Super Bowl offers an unmatched opportunity to reach over 120 million viewers. The audience and the fact that the ads are part of the story around the game is why the price tag is always rising year over year. Last year the average was around $8 million; a 25 percent jump seems high, though some spots, depending on the time of the game, could certainly go for eight figures. And the fee doesn’t include the steep production costs that brands incur in hopes of making their commercial stand out.
The disclosure of the ad sellout came after an analyst asked the Disney executives to describe the state of the advertising environment.
“Overall, we’re pleased with the upfront results,” Disney chief financial officer Hugh Johnston said on the call (upfronts refer to the flashy shows the media stage to hawk their outlet to ad buyers). “Really driven by the unmatched live events calendar that we have, including the Super Bowl, the College Football National Championship, the Grammys, the Oscars. We really have a tremendous calendar coming up. In terms of a couple of numbers, total volume commitments were up double digits versus last year, sports volumes were up low teens, and we are very very pleased to announce that we have sold out the Super Bowl inventory.”
Super Bowl LXI in Inglewood, Calif., scheduled for February 14, 2027, will be the first time the game is aired by a cable channel, ESPN. It has also been two decades since ABC aired the game, as Disney plans to simulcast the contest.
It’s possible Disney may have held back a few ad windows for any last-second mega offers; it’s fairly standard to hold back a handful of the roughly 60 ad windows. While the ad sellout is the headline news from this morning’s call, the second bit of news is that Disney is considering a free, ad-supported television (FAST) channel to be offered within Disney+.
“We’re exploring a free product for consumers, one that will allow us to accomplish several goals and hopefully do that efficiently,” said Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s CEO. “First, we see it as a way to expand our reach to a customer segment that’s more price sensitive, and expanding our reach is, as we’ve talked about before, one of our strategic priorities.”
Rival Fox has a robust FAST channel, Tubi, and recently announced it is buying Roku. Fox simulcast its last Super Bowl on Tubi, adding another viewing option. Surely, if Disney is going to launch a FAST channel, it would want to do so in time for the Super Bowl.
Disney generally had a solid quarter, evidenced by its stock price outpacing the market today. In the sports segment, which is largely ESPN, revenue rose 4 percent to $4.5 billion, slightly behind the overall 7 percent rise in revenues across Disney. Operating income in sports dropped 17 percent to $858 million from a year ago. This is largely due to the high cost of sports rights fees, with the NBA’s new round of pricey TV contracts starting this past season
