If you’re a marketer itching to spend $8 million for a single 30-second slice of national TV inventory, the time to pick up the phone and call Peter Lazarus was roughly yesterday. In keeping with the enormous reach of the Super Bowl, the NBC Sports ad sales boss on Tuesday announced he’s sold the last available unit in the NFL’s Feb. 8, 2026, championship game.
Having kicked off the process ahead of the spring upfront bazaar with an average unit cost of around $7 million a pop, Lazarus and his team began shopping around a curated selection of $8 million spots in July. Per media buyers, advertisers who expressed interest in securing one of those premium-priced slots also agreed to match that Big Game investment across other sports tentpoles, including NBC’s new primetime NBA package and its upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics coverage.
In addition to locking in the last takers for time in Super Bowl LX, which will air on the NBC flagship alongside simulcasts via Peacock and the Spanish-language network Telemundo, Lazarus said 90% of the company’s regular-season and playoff inventory has already been sold off. Nearly half of NBC’s in-game ad deals are structured as multiyear buys, as is the case with each of the NFL’s legacy TV partners. Given the relative scarcity such an arrangement implies and the NFL’s unmatched reach, commercials that air within that content tend to fly off the shelves.
“Coming off of the strongest sports upfront in our company’s history, Super Bowl LX has generated extraordinary interest from brands and allowed us to sell out of our ad inventory earlier than ever,” Lazarus said in a statement. The EVP of advertising and partnerships for NBC Sports & Olympics went on to note that the demand for NFL units was “unprecedented,” and puts the company on track to register its “highest grossing [season] to date.”
The usual suspects made their advance commitments for the NFL’s next title tilt months ago, as representatives from the CPG (consumer packaged goods), entertainment (theatricals, streaming), financial services and alcohol categories snatched up a good chunk of the early offerings. Pharmaceutical brands and fast-food/casual dining restaurants upped their spend, as the former category continues to invest in TV despite the occasional rumblings of Beltway mischief.
The last time NBC hosted the Super Bowl was in 2022, when Sean McVay’s Rams edged the Bengals by a 23-20 margin. While that broadcast averaged 101.5 million viewers (or 112.3 million when streaming impressions were included), NBC’s next bite of the apple is expected to deliver as many as 130 million viewers, as the network looks to capitalize on recent improvements to Nielsen’s ratings methodology.
The average cost of a single unit four years ago: $6.2 million. All told, NBC generated $519 million in ad revenue courtesy of that Rams-Bengals matchup; given the rate hikes, the network is expected to rake in close to $700 million this time around.
As much as Lazarus emphasized that no units remain up for grabs in Super Bowl LX, the rule of thumb across the industry states that the game is never sold out until the opening kickoff leaves the tee. Ten years ago, then-CBS Corp. boss Les Moonves let the cat out of the bag, crowing that the NFL’s network partners would always find room for a late entry with deep pockets.
In recent years, the prodigal spenders at the big Hollywood movies studios were always good for a zero-hour buy. “Two weeks before [the game], some producer who thinks he has a bad movie will convince the studio to spend more money on it … and they’re going to beg us for two spots,” Moonves said during an appearance at a 2015 industry conference. While Moonves no longer commands an audience at investors’ confabs, the sentiment remains intact, as the unofficial motto among Super Bowl sales mavens is, “We’re not sold out until they get to the ‘…and the home of the brave’ part of the Anthem.”
In addition to all the linear inventory that’s been sold off, Lazarus also noted that digital revenues were up 20% compared to Super Bowl LVI.
NBC on Thursday night will embark on its 20th season of Sunday Night Football with an NFC East clash between the Dallas Cowboys and defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. For the campaign ahead, the company has brought in more than 150 advertisers, including 40 brands that are new to the primetime showcase. In addition to the 90% SNF sell-through, Toyota is returning as the presenting sponsor of the halftime show.
The Cowboys-Eagles pregame show (Football Night in America) starts Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, with the game itself expected to kick off at around 8:15 p.m. ET. As has been the case since 2022, Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth will be on the call for the NFL Kickoff Game, while Melissa Stark will handle the sideline duties.
