Inside NBCU’s $3 million Peacock Super Bowl pitch

According to two media buyers, both of whom exchanged anonymity for candor, NBCU’s initial asking price for a 30-second ad running on Peacock’s Super Bowl coverage was $3 million. The media company also asked that buyers commit to match that spending in investments on other Peacock inventory, meaning streaming-only advertisers needed to spend around $6 million to get in the door.

NBCU told buyers and brands it expected to net a peak audience of at least 19 million for this year’s game. NBCU didn’t respond to a request for comment prior to publication.

“NBC required a match spend for the streaming piece as well… they wanted something else, if you wanted to buy into that Peacock package that they were out there selling,” said the buyer. “It’s basically a $6 million package just [to get into] the digital streaming, Peacock version of the Super Bowl.” As is typical with linear ad investments, some advertisers will have been able to negotiate a lower cost, they added.

The match spending requirement, which was linked to pre- and post-Super Bowl ad slots, as well as coverage of the Winter Olympics, may have benefitted brands hoping to run ads across a range of sporting events in February, noted Gartner marketing analyst Nicole Greene.

“You’re buying into the NBC ecosystem? The Olympics are after. So it’s a good moment to be visible, be part of the conversation,” said Greene. “It’s not a single event, it’s more of a broader distribution and campaign strategy.”

Most of the ads shown on Peacock will be the same as those running on linear broadcast of Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8. Peacock also offers a limited set of local ad breaks running specifically on the streaming platform, enabling regional advertisers with smaller budgets a way into the Super Bowl. This year’s linear ad packages have been selling as high as $8 million for a 30-second unit and carried a similar match spending requirement.

Live sports coverage on streaming platforms has matured in recent years, from Amazon’s efforts to make pro football and basketball cornerstones of its Prime offering, to Netflix’s roster of boxing and WWE events. Last year’s Super Bowl coverage on Tubi (strictly speaking, a free ad supported streaming, or FAST, platform) attracted a peak audience of 15.5 million.

NBCU’s steep price hasn’t affected demand. Super Bowl ad negotiations were concluded last June, during an otherwise drawn-out upfront season, noted Adam Schwartz, svp, director of national broadcast, sports media at Horizon Media.

“The Super Bowl sold out immediately,” recalled Luke Fowler, vp of business leadership at media agency Kelly Scott Madison.

Peacock’s 2024 coverage of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris boosted brands’ confidence that the platform can deliver on viewership expectations, said Schwartz. “Peacock really came to the forefront during Paris,” he said.

Finally, the NFL’s record of conjuring up huge live TV audiences stands against the medium’s broad decline. Although streaming audiences are smaller, they’re still rare opportunities to get a brand in front of a big crowd. 

“The NFL is just a beast and the Super Bowl itself is a self contained marketplace that has just really turned into another animal over the last five or six years,” Schwartz concluded.