February of 2026 cannot get here fast enough for the NBC ad sales team.
The network will have an outstanding trio of tentpole events to sell commercials for, headlined by Super Bowl LX on February 8. Alongside the biggest game of the NFL season, NBC will also be airing the 2026 Winter Olympics from Milan and the NBA All-Star Game on February 15.
That’s a pretty strong two-week stretch of live sports on one network. And as you could expect, NBC is looking to capitalize on the opportunity by charging advertisers a pretty penny for commercial inventory.
According to a report by Brian Steinberg in Variety on Monday, NBC is looking to sell one 30-second Super Bowl commercial for about $7 million, a price that would stand about even with or slightly above Fox’s Super Bowl ad rates earlier this year. Late in the Super Bowl ad sales cycle, Fox was able to sell certain spots for over $8 million a pop due to high demand.
Unlike Fox, however, NBC will be able to leverage its other marquee February events to create more attractive advertising packages for marketers. Per Variety, “The company has been eager to discuss ad packages that include all three events, according to buyers and executives familiar with discussions.”
In 2022, NBC used a similar strategy with the Super Bowl coinciding with the Winter Olympics. Some may remember that the network even chose to air Winter Olympics programming as a lead-out to the Super Bowl, a strategy NBC is expected to employ again next year.
According to Steinberg, NBC has been sharing research with advertisers that shows they risk losing out on tens of millions of potential viewers if they choose to buy spots on just the Super Bowl or just the Olympics. The network reportedly claims that advertisers who only bought Super Bowl ads in 2022 missed out on 42 million potential viewers from the Olympics, and those that only bought Olympics ads missed out on 30 million viewers who watched the Super Bowl.
Additionally, as is typical for Super Bowl ad purchases, NBC is seeking a commitment from advertisers to buy inventory on the network’s other sports properties. That shouldn’t be too difficult given NBC’s loaded live sports calendar next year, the first which will include its new NBA package.
In all, Fox was able to generate over $800 million in Super Bowl ad revenue earlier this year. Time will tell whether NBC can match or exceed that. But if history tells us anything, the price of a Super Bowl commercial tends to only go in one direction: up.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.