Thanks to first Super Bowl OT, Fox is able to pull in $500 million in ads

The first-ever Super Bowl overtime allowed Fox to run four extra ads and as a result, Fox was able to rake in an additional $16-20 million in cash to what was already an over $400 million haul. Selling ads at a $5 million pricetag per 30 second commercial, Fox announced it had sold out of its inventory just a couple of days before the air date. With the four extra ads, Fox came close to bringing in $500 million in total day advertising according to industry estimates.

And due to that unexpected overtime period, Fox had some spots ready in the cue and was also taking requests in real-time from advertisers who wanted to buy in had the game gone longer. Fox Networks Group vice president of ad sales Bruce Lefkowitz told Advertising Age that he was ready to accept more requests just in case:

“We were also garnering commitments in real time. We would have liked the greatest Super Bowl in history to go on forever, and were prepared if it did.”

Two ads that had appeared earlier in the game (Hulu and Sprint) aired after the overtime coin flip and  two new ads (Proactiv featuring Olivia Munn and SoFi) were broadcast at the end of the game.

It adds to what has been a stellar six months for Fox Sports starting with the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series in seven games which was the most watched MLB game in a quarter-century and now the Patriots winning Super Bowl LI.

[Advertising Age/MediaPost]