Social Rocket
NFL advertising remains one of the most expensive media environments in the world – and new measurement data explains why brands still accept the high prices. According to the NFL TV Outcomes Report 2026 by EDO, an average spot in the regular NFL season 2025/26 generated the same overall impact as around 73 average primetime spots. That was 15 percent more than in the previous season.
The metric matters here: by "impact," EDO does not mean that a single NFL spot is 73 times more persuasive per viewer. The company combines reach with subsequent behaviour such as brand searches, website visits and app downloads. On a pure effectiveness basis, an average NFL spot was, according to EDO, around 10 percent above the primetime benchmark.
Super Bowl: enormous reach, but not just reach
With the Super Bowl, the difference becomes even more extreme. According to EDO, an average spot corresponded in overall impact to around 1.455 primetime spots. At the same time, measured engagement was 226 percent above the primetime comparison.
For media planners, precisely this separation is relevant. Premium sport does not automatically deliver better creative. However, it bundles very large reach in a moment when viewers stay attentive and advertising is more a part of the event than in many other TV environments.
This also explains why live sport remains so valuable despite the shift from linear television to streaming. We have already classified how classic TV bundles and streaming are converging again in our analysis of cord-cutting, streaming and CTV.
Sponsorship becomes more measurable
In its current study, EDO has for the first time also systematically evaluated NFL sponsorship: 1.443 sponsorship placements from 139 brands across 79 games on broadcast and streaming platforms.
Not all integrations performed equally. According to EDO, halftime studio segments were 198 percent above average sponsorship engagement, and sponsor billboards were 28 percent above that. Individual brands also clearly exceeded the average.
This is more interesting for marketers than the blanket question of whether sports sponsorship "works." Increasingly decisive is which specific placement, which moment and which creative measurably trigger a response.
AI advertising stands out in the NFL environment
AI brands were also among the conspicuous advertisers last season. EDO names Claude, among others, as well as AI-oriented campaigns from Microsoft and IBM. According to EDO, Microsoft's spot for Copilot and AI animation achieved 667 percent more engagement than the average NFL regular-season spot.
This is not proof that "AI advertising" generally performs better. It does show, however, that products requiring explanation can benefit in an attention-rich environment when the creative demonstrates a concrete benefit instead of merely repeating abstract technology promises.
The creative side therefore remains just as important as the media price. Current NFL campaigns show different approaches: FOX now builds its football promos as a recurring campaign world with its own characters, while Caesars uses an internet trend as a creative product metaphor with Clay Matthews.
What marketers should take away from the numbers
The EDO data argues less for "more TV" than for a more differentiated assessment of premium inventory. Three points are particularly relevant:
- Consider reach and effectiveness separately. A high overall impact can stem largely from an event's exceptional reach.
- Do not measure sponsorship as a uniform format. Studio segments, billboards and other integrations evidently deliver very different results.
- Creative remains the lever. Even in a premium environment, brands and spots differ enormously in how they respond.
The economic side is also large: trade publication Adweek, at the start of the new season, points to estimates that NFL advertising revenue could 2026 continue to grow. Already for the 2025/26 season, Guideline reported around 5,9 billion dollars in advertising revenue via NFL media partners.
For German brands, the absolute US figures are only partly transferable. The basic lesson nevertheless applies here too: for live sport, CTV and large cultural events, media should not be evaluated on CPMs alone. What matters is whether the environment generates additional attention and measurable behaviour – and whether the creative actually makes use of that attention.
Sources: Adweek NFL Ad Tracker 2026, EDO NFL TV Outcomes Report 2026, EDO: What Worked for Advertisers Last Season