The Super Bowl is one of the most anticipated TV and US cultural events of the year. In fact, Super Bowl LVIII was the most-watched in history, reaching over 123M viewers across traditional TV and streaming.1
Super Bowl ad opportunities come at a premium – topping $8M for a 30 second spot2 – limiting the brands that can align with the big game. But that doesn’t mean your brand message can’t find opportunities with similar impact when it comes to reaching the right set of viewers.
Based on a recent analysis of multiscreen TV viewing behavior, Effectv has found that there are untapped ways for advertisers to reach engaged audiences across content, genres, and platforms during the most watched weekend in February.3
Set Your Sights on Non-Super Bowl Viewers
While the NFL is the most followed sports league in the U.S, nearly 2 in 5 Americans don’t plan to watch the Super Bowl.4 Viewership has declined among younger viewers in recent years, with only 27% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 reporting that they would watch Super Bowl in 2024.4
- Comcast households (HHs) spend 26% of their traditional TV viewing hours outside of Super Bowl related content on the Sunday of the game.5
- 95% of impressions generated Super Bowl weekend are outside of sports content, as households are likely to be tuning in to other programming, particularly cable news and movies.6
- Cable news networks generated 20% of impressions on Super Bowl Sunday and are a great way to reach households that don’t necessarily identify as NFL Super Fans (people in the top one third of NFL viewing HHs).6
- Movies also accounted for 16% of time spent in front of the TV screen among HHs that don’t identify as NFL Super Fans and generated 3.3X more impressions than for sports programming among all Comcast HHs on Super Bowl Sunday.5
Capture Super Bowl Viewership, Save on Costs
With 81% of viewers watching the game with at least one other person,7 Super Bowl ads might have to compete with the social environment for viewers’ attention. But advertisers need not worry; there are ways to reach the same audiences without the hefty prices tags and additional noise of the Big Game.
Here are some non-Super Bowl options for advertisers to consider on Super Bowl Sunday:
- Sported-related coverage taps into the halo effect of the Big Game. 1 in 5 Comcast HHs reached by sports tune in to sports-related coverage outside of the actual game,3 so advertisers can consider placements on sports networks with coverage leading up to kick off.
- Related live events like the Puppy Bowl, which reached 12.6M viewers across TV and streaming in 2024 and was the number one non-sports cable telecast of the day.8
- Programs airing directly before and after the game typically attract strong viewership and can be a great way to reach Super Bowl viewers at a lower cost than traditional Super Bowl ads.3
- Effectv’s audience targeting capabilities to get in front of valuable audiences and take the guesswork out of where and when they are watching.
Don’t let the premium pricing of in-game ads scare your brand away from taking advantage of the massive cultural moment of Super Bowl weekend. By leveraging different types of programming and placements throughout the weekend, you can still score big by reaching the audiences that matter most to your brand, no matter where (or what) they are watching.
Sources:
1. Nielsen, “Super Bowl LVIII Draws 123.7 Million Average Viewers, Largest TV Audience on Record,” 2024.
2. Variety, “Super Bowl Ad Prices Top $8 Million as Surge Fuels Fox Sales,” 2025.
3. Comcast Aggregated Viewership Data. Time period: Super Bowl Sunday for 2021 – 2024. Total US. Based on average of linear viewership hours. “Super Bowl Related Content” = live game, pre- and post-game shows.
4. Statista Market Insights, “Likelihood of Watching Super Bowl Among Respondents in the United States, by Age.” 2024.
5. Comcast Aggregated Viewership Data combined with Ad Exposure Data. Time period: Super Bowl Sunday 2024 (2/11/24). Target as defined by Experian, Polk, and/or L2.
6. Comcast Aggregated National Viewership Data combined with Ad Exposure Data. Time period: Super Bowl Weekend 2024 (2/09/24 – 2/11/24). Target as defined by Experian, Polk, and/or L2.
7. TVision Program Analysis Report. 12/11/2024. Live + SD. Includes the game and all related coverage. Co-viewing rate is the proportion of viewing where two or more viewers are in the room with the content tuned for a minimum of 5 minutes for program time.
8. Originally published by WarnerBros. Discovery. Linear data is Nielsen Live+SD; Reach based on 1min qualifier, P2+, includes all Puppy Bowl content across Animal Planet, Discovery and TBS. Telecast ranks based on 000s.
