A 30-second ad slot for Super Bowl LVI, which airs Sunday on NBC, costs an average of $6.5 million dollars this year, and there is no shortage of buyers, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Companies representing burgeoning industries like cryptocurrency, at-home COVID-19 testing, electric vehicle charging, and online sports gambling will air their first Super Bowl ads this year.
Americans are expected to bet $7.6 billion on the game, up 78 percent from last year, Reuters reported. Much of this increase is driven by aggressive marketing campaigns for sportsbook apps like Caesars and FanDuel.
Travel company Expedia will run an ad after sitting out last year’s Super Bowl due to COVID lockdowns.
Longtime favorites like the E*Trade baby and the Budweiser Clydesdales are also set to return.
“What we’re seeing in the Super Bowl advertising that I’ve seen so far is really the tried and true approaches that have always worked in the game to entertain people and engage them and be effective,” advertising executive Lee Newman told the Journal.
According to the Journal and CBS, celebrities featured in the big game’s ads include Lindsay Lohan, Megan Thee Stallion, Charlie Puth, Mary J. Blige, Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd, Idris Elba, and Guy Fieri.