Super Bowl 2025 may be the most watched live TV show of 2025. Expectations for approximately 120 million live viewers seem plausible. Inexpensive ticket prices to attend seem a bit wishful.
Can the Chiefs Three Peat?
Will the Eagles avenge their loss from Super Bowl 2023?
With consumers turning to Netflix and streaming services, the opportunity to see the Chiefs vs Eagles rematch stands in rare air as “TV watchers” have decided to generally consume entertainment on their own schedule.
But this event is like few others.
We gather to watch the Grammy’s, the Final 4 and the Super Bowl in real life This event is the ultimate “Friendsgiving” event filled with traditions. My traditions may or may not mirror yours but we drink low-calorie beer, eat high-calorie nachos and make silly bets on empty squares that will be matched later with numbers to see who has the correct score at the end of the first quarter, half time, third quarter and final score.
At the same time we’ll talk about the ads as if we were having an all-out political debate. Which one was best? Will anyone remember the day after the game?
I spoke to Dipanjan Chatterjee, VP Principal Analyst at Forrester, and he remarked, “Brands attempt to indelibly wedge themselves into the cultural fabric of the nation. It’s a spectacle and a celebration – and you don’t have to know or care about the Super Bowl to indulge in it. There’s anticipation about what will be on show and much discussion afterward about the abominations – it keeps these brands in the cultural conversation.”
Most Watched Ads Of All Time
According to Fox Sports, these are some of the most popular ads of “all time.” We’ve watched and talked about these ads together through the years.
- Apple: “1984” (1984)
- Coca-Cola: “Hey Kid, Catch” (1980)
- Budweiser: “Whassup?”(1999)
- Budweiser: “Frogs” (1995)
- McDonald’s: “The Showdown” (1993)
- Amazon: “Alexa Loses Her Voice” (2018)
- Pepsi: “New Can (Two Kids)” (1992)
- Volkswagen: “The Force” (2011)
Most Watched Live TV Shows In 2024
According to Variety, the top “live programs” all involved NFL Football. The Nielsen data I’ve seen closely matches the information below. So while consumer may be streaming Squid Games they are watching “big events.”
- Super Bowl LVIII: Kansas City vs. San Francisco (CBS)
- NFC Championship: San Francisco vs. Detroit (Fox)
- AFC Divisional Playoff: Kansas City vs. Buffalo (CBS)
- NFC Playoff: San Francisco vs. Green Bay (Fox)
I spoke with Levi Eli, EVP from Indie-agency BarkleyOKRP, who commented on audience and consumer behavior, “Super bowl ads command a huge investment and thus most brands want to understand what they get for their money and if it’s ultimately worth it. The challenge is that for many brands solely focusing on the immediate return of their investment or quick sales increases is unlikely to show the lift desired.”
Eli continued, “Brands need to approach the Super Bowl not as a single transaction, but as a strategic investment in long-term brand building. Immediate ROI will always be an attractive proposition; however, it is just one piece of the puzzle. Focusing on the broader impact of a Super Bowl campaign – through brand awareness, equity, PR and content creation allows brands and advertisers to unlock the full potential of this global stage. The big game may only last a few hours, but the impact of a smart Super Bowl strategy may last for years.”
Cost Of A Super Bowl 2025 Ad
This year with advertisers spending as much as $7 to 8 Million Dollars plus the cost to create the ads to reach this locked in audience brands CMOs are making some big bets.
Mr. Chatterjee expressed a cautionary view, “At around 8 million bucks a click, a Super Bowl ad is just about the worst use of funds for most established brands. We analyzed brands like Intuit, Toyota, and Doordash that advertised in 2024 and found that they did no better than their category or peers in returning value to their shareholders since running the ads.”
Joe Sciara, founder of 22 Genes, provided different context, “Aside from the massive and captive audience watching the game, the premium cost to advertise may be justified as a result of the direct and indirect exposure Super Bowl ads receive through sharing on social media–either through their own accounts or the public sharing on their behalf. Of course, this is a double-edged sword. If your ad is sub par more the extra exposure and talk value will work to your brand’s detriment exponentially.”
Ticket Prices Surging Ahead of Super Bowl 2025
We all remember economics 101.
When the supply curve starts to change the price starts to increase or decrease based on which way the curve is moving. Ticket prices are surging. Dustin Ray, an industry veteran with Tickets For Less remarked, “Super Bowl LIX leads the pack with a 17.5% price surge in the last 24 hours, showcasing unprecedented excitement and demand for this year’s game when comparing to the last five Super Bowls.”
So will the Chiefs slow down Saquon Barkley? Who will be Super Bowl MVP?
Can one CMO win the ad wars? Stay tuned.