Broadcasters Benefit From Eagles’ First Super Bowl Win
This month saw the Philadelphia Eagles claim their first ever Super Bowl victory as they beat the New England Patriots 41-33. Only one year after the Patriots’ comeback victory against the Atlanta Falcons, the Patriots took the lead for the first time in the fourth quarter after trailing for much of the game to the Eagles.
The high-scoring clash which took place at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis saw the Eagles reclaim the lead with two and a half minutes left on the clock. Known for his last-minute heroics, Brady could not save the game this time as millions tuned in to watch Philadelphia claim a first ever Super Bowl win.
Tapping into the benefits of sports broadcasting which have been enormously publicised in recent weeks, broadcasters benefitted greatly from the spike in viewership. This globally viewed event has seen broadcaster NBC overtake long-running leader CBS, averaging a higher viewership due to their combined coverage of the Super Bowl and PyeongChang Olympics.
The total of 74 points scored in Super Bowl 52 was one point short of equalling the record for the most points scored, a record set 23 years ago by the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers.
The Super Bowl is no stranger to breaking records, with 19 of the 20 most-watched television shows of all time in the US being Super Bowl broadcasts. The current TV rights deal is worth almost $40billion, with the ten-year deal being signed with four different networks and running until 2022.
Nielsen reported that last year’s Super Bowl LI drew in an average of 111.3 million viewers in America, equating to more than a third of the population.
Making the history books as the 2nd highest-scoring Super Bowl was not the only story that made the headlines, impressing as always, with its eagerly-awaited adverts.
The enormous viewership has made the Super Bowl one of the top platforms for creating talked-about advertising, albeit with a hefty price tag.
The average price for a 30-second spot during the telecast is around $5million, with high-profile adverts being some of the most-talked-about on social media, an aspect of sports advertising which makes it the ideal platform for the world’s biggest and most ambitious brands.
