Ven-Views

This year, the 2009 Super Bowl will be sponsored by NBC. Last year the Super Bowl was aired on FOX. Even in times of an economic crisis many businesses are able to come up with the high dollar amounts to advertise in the biggest sports game of the year. Last year 97.4 million people viewed the game, which was the most viewed sports game. This year NBC is in better shape than FOX was last year at this time. FOX still had about 10% of commercial spots left to fill, whereas, this year NBC has sold all but 8 commercial spots with over two months to go. This is a much better turn out. Many companies were on the fence about spending so much money for one spot in a game, because they fear being looked down upon due to the financial crisis. However, they know that if they have a great spot in the game, it will be viewed by more people than in any other venue of advertising. Other companies were not positive that their wallets could afford it, yet some decided it would be worth the risk. A few companies, like General Motors, made a decision to bail out this year, while others, who are benefiting from the bail out have decided to give it another go. Last year, due to 10% of inventory being unsold, many spots were heavily discounted right before the big game. Even though this year, there may not be spots left before the game to be discounted, many companies may decide to buy local spots in the game, which could cut the cost in half or even more depending on how close to the time of game, the spots are purchased.

Chrisina Ryan
Media Venue

*Information from: The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday November 11, 2008 by Suzanne Vranica