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A 30-second Super Bowl LX commercial in 2026 averaged $8 million for airtime, according to NBC Sports advertising and partnerships chief Peter Lazarus, as quoted by The Associated Press. A handful of 30-second units sold for more than $10 million. Those figures are for the ad slot—not the cost of making the commercial or paying its stars.
How much is a 30-second Super Bowl ad?
The latest reported benchmark is an average of $8 million for a 30-second Super Bowl LX unit in 2026. The Associated Press attributed the figure to Peter Lazarus, who leads advertising and partnerships for NBC Sports. AP also reported that a handful of 30-second units sold for more than $10 million; those were exceptional high-end sales, not the average.
These are reported selling prices, not a published rate card or an audited list of every transaction. The cited reports do not identify the buyers of the units above $10 million. There is also no confirmed price in the cited reporting for Super Bowl LXI in 2027, so the 2026 figure should not be treated as next year’s rate.
How Super Bowl ad prices have changed
| Game year | Reported price or figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 2018, Super Bowl LII | $5.235 million average for a 30-second ad | Kantar Media’s 2019 analysis. Kantar separately reported $482 million in total 2018 advertising investment, including pre-game and post-game advertising. |
| 2024 | About $7 million for a 30-second spot | A retrospective estimate reported by CBS MoneyWatch in 2025. |
| 2025, Super Bowl LIX | Close to $8 million average for a 30-second spot | CBS MoneyWatch’s 2025 report, which attributed the estimate to advertising executive Peter Bray. FOX Sports separately reported high-end 2025 prices up to or above $8 million. |
| 2026, Super Bowl LX | $8 million average for a 30-second unit; a handful sold above $10 million | Figures attributed to NBC Sports executive Peter Lazarus in 2026 Associated Press reporting. The above-$10-million sales were not the average. |
Read each figure with its year and measure attached. An average selling price, a premium unit, an event-wide revenue total, and a production budget are different things and cannot be compared as if they were the same rate.
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What does the airtime price include?
The reported slot price buys media inventory: the opportunity to run an ad in a particular broadcast placement. It does not, by itself, describe the cost of creating the ad, hiring talent, or extending the campaign to other platforms.
- Airtime: the reported price for the broadcast unit. Duration and placement matter; a 30-second in-game slot is not interchangeable with a longer spot or pre-game and post-game inventory.
- Production: the expense of developing and making the commercial. CBS MoneyWatch reported that Amazon’s 90-second “Mind Reader” ad in Super Bowl LVI (2022) was said to have cost $26 million to produce, citing Qualtrics. That reported production figure is not the price of its broadcast slot.
- Talent: a separate possible expense. Peter Bray told CBS MoneyWatch that celebrity appearances can range from under $50,000 to millions depending on the person’s fame, and estimated many at around $2 million. These are his estimates, not audited standard rates.
- Campaign extensions: related work across platforms can add costs beyond the broadcast unit. The reported slot price alone does not establish an advertiser’s all-in campaign budget.
Why do Super Bowl ad slots cost so much?
The cited explanations are scarce inventory, advertiser demand, and access to a very large live audience. Fox Corporation said Super Bowl LIX sold out at record pricing. Fox also reported an average audience of 127.7 million across television and digital platforms, with a second-quarter peak of 137.7 million, citing Nielsen Media Research.
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That reach helps explain why advertisers compete for the event, but audience size does not prove that a particular ad paid back its cost. CBS MoneyWatch also quoted industry commentary about how difficult it can be to assemble a large audience across fragmented social platforms. That is an explanation of the appeal, not evidence of any advertiser’s return on investment.
Is a Super Bowl commercial the most expensive ad?
“Most expensive” needs a measure. The clearest current record in the cited reporting is the price of a 30-second Super Bowl LX airtime unit: a handful reportedly sold above $10 million in 2026. The sources do not establish which advertiser paid the most, rank every Super Bowl commercial by total spend, or show that the most expensive production was also the most expensive airtime buy.
For example, the reported $26 million production cost for Amazon’s 90-second 2022 “Mind Reader” commercial concerns making the ad, not buying the slot. Its longer duration also makes it an apples-to-oranges comparison with a 30-second airtime price.
Why the big event-wide revenue number is not a slot price
Fox Corporation said its Super Bowl LIX presentation on Fox and Tubi generated more than $800 million in gross advertising revenue across platforms. That is revenue across the event presentation, not an average or quoted price for one 30-second in-game unit. Likewise, the audience figures describe reach; they do not tell an individual advertiser what it paid or earned.
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How to compare reported Super Bowl ad costs
Before treating two figures as comparable, check what each one actually describes:
- Year and game: prices change from one Super Bowl to another.
- Duration: a 30-second unit is the common benchmark, but ads may be shorter or longer.
- Placement: in-game inventory differs from pre-game or post-game spots and premium placements.
- Rate type: distinguish an average from a high-end reported sale or package price.
- Cost scope: separate airtime from production, talent, and broader campaign spending.
- Distribution: national broadcast inventory, local or international inventory, and cross-platform totals are not equivalent measures.
Kantar Media’s analysis of the 2018 game illustrates why duration and inventory matter: 30-second ads were the most common length, but shorter and longer messages also appeared. Its ad-time measures also counted network promotional messages in some cases.
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