NBC-TV, broadcast host of Super Bowl XLIII, sold all its advertising spots at a record $206 million, even as some longtime advertisers passed on participating due to a declining U.S. economy, Bloomberg reported.
The network also set a record for advertising revenue for the National Football League championship from pre-game through post-game, with $261 million, said Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal Inc. chief executive officer, in a statement.
"These advertising milestones show the power of the NFL brand and the strength of the Super Bowl as a TV property in this economic climate," Zucker said.
Thirty-two advertisers will be represented during the game being broadcast from Tampa, Florida. Missing will be previous advertisers General Motors Corp. and FedEx Corp., which said their financial situations prevented them from investing in Super Bowl ads.
Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, said on Jan. 28 that 12 of the 65 time slots sold by then carried a price tag of $3 million, while the others sold in the "high 2 millions." In May, NBC said it wanted $3 million per ad, 11 percent more than the $2.7 million Fox sought for last year's game.
The contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals has 69 30-second commercial spots, said network spokesman Brian Walker in an e-mail.
Last year, News Corp.'s Fox sold its last Super Bowl ad on Jan. 29, five days before the game. The network had 63 slots that brought in a then-record $186.3 million.
The 2008 Super Bowl, in which the New York Giants beat the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the final minute of play, drew a record 97.5 million viewers, making it the most- watched television broadcast last year, according to researcher Nielsen Co.