Advertisers Kick Live Sports Spending Sky High

The power of the NFL games among advertisers despite lower than expected ratings speaks volumes about the perceived value of live sports programming in generalamp160 That is made clear by adspend data for October released by Standard Media IndexIn considering this yingyang reality I was recently struck by an analysis of NFL ratings by Michael Mulvihill Fox Sports39 Executive Vice President of Research League Operations and Strategy In a November 29 Twitter post he noted that NFL telecasts that took place during the first nine weeks of the season amp160prior to the elections amp160experienced an average 9 drop in overnight ratings compared with the same weeks in 2015 After the elections during weeks 1012 NFL ratings were down 3 according to Mulvihill a welcome improvement but still far from stellarSMI data shows that the average cost of a 30second spot for NFL games in October was up 4 to 455310 That39s a comparison with October 2015 results for games televised on NBC CBS Foxamp160and ESPNCollectively the four networks grossed over 750 million on NFL telecasts up a whopping 14 over October 2015 Although this year there were five Monday and five Sunday night games whereas last year there were four eachResults for individual networks were all positive but they certainly varied Here39s a comparison of average 30second NFL spot pricing for October 2016 versus the same month last yearOn Sundays NFL units increased 6 on CBS 3 on Fox and 2 on NBCOn Mondays they rose 10 on ESPNOn Thursdays they rose 9 on CBSThe revenue gains become even more spectacular when college and professional football results are combined up 16 over the same time last year Four ad sectors in particular showed tremendous ad spend growth in comparison with last year when numbers for the two types of football games are meldedQuick service restaurants rose 38Consumer electronics spiked an amazing 715Telecommunications increased 385Auto dealers and manufacturers bumped up 9Bear in mind that the auto sector dwarfed all other sectors by volume amp160103 million more than the next largest sector QSR during the monthThose may seem like pretty exciting numbers but Major League Baseball39s World Series games were even more breathtaking The penultimate game between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs garnered more than double the revenue of its counterpart in 2015 up 111Here are two other sets of stats that should delight some network executivesThe first five World Series games in 2016 drew in 28 more revenue than the first five of 2015The average cost of a 30second spot in Game 7 was 364700 a 23 improvement over the Game 1 average which was 278800To put all these live sports numbers in clearer perspective consider that the primetime revenue for the four major networks fell by 46 in October across all program genres The average cost of a 30second primetime unit rose by a mere 15 When you exclude sports the average unit cost was down 3 compared with the same month last yearOctober will go down in history as an extraordinary month Americans waited with edgeoftheseat expectations as Election Day neared And that clearly affected their viewing choicesIn all likelihood ad spend data will soften a bit for the last two months of the year as the networks pay back undelivered audiences for other programming amp160Regardless there39s little doubt that live sports will continue to be a star quarterback in the television adspend quotgamequotClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Advertisers Kick Live Sports Spending Sky High

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James Fennessy

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

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Advertisers Kick Live Sports Spending Sky High

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James Fennessy

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