MINNEAPOLIS: Preliminary estimates of in-game ad expenditures for Super Bowl LII indicate that a total of $414m was spent – which would be the second largest amount ever after last year’s game which generated $419m.

And when expenditures from pre-game and post-game programming are tabulated and included, the total revenue for the event will easily surpass $500m, according to Kantar Media.

The advertising intelligence firm reported a total of 49 minutes, 35 seconds of commercial time from paying sponsors, the NFL and NBC Universal networks – the third highest total on record – with ads accounting for 22% of the total broadcast.

Excluding the promotional messages aired by NBC Universal and the NFL, there were a total of 62 in-game spots aired by 45 different advertisers from 37 unique parent company owners.

Anheuser-Busch InBev and Fiat Chrysler Automotive were the top-spending parent companies in the game, each purchasing 4:00 minutes of air time, followed by Toyota Motor with an estimated 3:00 minutes and then Amazon.com at 2:30 minutes.

Auto manufacturers were the lead category during the game, accounting for 11 spots and 9:00 minutes of commercial time. Beer brands were in second place, with six spots and 4:00 minutes of air time; motion pictures, in third, had five spots and 3:30 minutes, while telecoms brands claimed four spots and 3:10 minutes.

There were only four first-time marketers during the game, Kantar Media added – including Australia Tourism, Blacture.com, Giant Bomb (a mobile game publisher) and Monster (audio headphones) – the fewest in the past decade and less than one-half the number in each of the four preceding Super Bowl games.

Some 45% of 2017 sponsors did not return in 2018, an attrition rate that matched that seen in the previous ten Super Bowls.

Finally, and despite the costs involved, Kantar Media observed a resurgence of long-form ads. Of the 62 in-game commercials from paying sponsors, 19 were one minute or longer, the most since 2015.

Sourced from Kantar Media; additional content by WARC staff