Super Bowl LVI | NBC Sports and Pubs Day

NBC could not wish for a better alignment of the stars. Sunday, the American network will be able to insert in its programming of the Olympic Games of Beijing that of the Super Bowl LVI. Because the NFL Finals this time takes place not on the first, but on the second Sunday in February, it promises sports fans 16 hours followed by competitions, analysis, ultimate showdown, medal presentations and other descriptions. In Quebec, viewers who switch between RDS, RDS2 and Radio-Canada will have a similar experience.

Isabelle Masse
The Press

This day is marked with the seal “Once in a Lifetime Day” by the management of NBC, which will have to submit to a raised distribution logistics. “Around 100 million viewers will be present during the Super Bowl, then we will continue with live coverage in Beijing,” rejoiced Pete Bevacqua, president of NBC Sports Group, whose remarks were reported in particular by the Toronto Star. “It’s incredible, unheard of. From a sales and marketing perspective, it’s a home run. »

Already the price for the broadcast of a 30-second advertisement has been increased by 20% this year compared to 2021, to reach in some cases 7 million US. A cost beyond comprehension, in this pandemic period? On February 7, NBC announced that all of its advertising space was sold!

As for RDS, the pay-per-view rate is $11,000 to $12,000 this year.

Return of brands

If some brands preferred to pass their turn last year, such as Coca-Cola and Budweiser, they are back for the final. A high number of recruits are also taking part in the festivities: 30 this time, including Booking.com and cryptocurrency-related advertisers, according to the trade magazine Adage.

The presence of many car brands and others associated with travel confirms to us that health measures are fading. “At least five car manufacturers will be there,” says Julien Thiry, creative director of the advertising agency dentsumcgarrybowen. We are going to talk about vehicle electrification, in my opinion. Humor will once again be there, nostalgia too. »

Will we see masks on the characters’ ears? “I would be surprised, replies Julien Thiry. We want to get away for two and a half hours. We want to leave the pandemic behind us. It is also America after Trump. There is less tension. It might be less political. »

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Devenues une tradition, des accroches (teasers) de quelques secondes dévoilées sur l’internet et les réseaux sociaux ces dernières semaines nous préparent à la présence d’une brochette de vedettes dimanche soir dans les pubs… et maximisent l’investissement charnu de ces miniproductions. Serena Williams, Matthew McConaughey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scarlett Johansson, Halle Berry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jim Carrey et Zendaya notamment ont signé de juteux contrats avec les Michelob, Salesforce, BMW, Amazon, Uber Eats, Verizon et Squarespace.

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Les chevaux mythiques de Budweiser ont été réembauchés dans un message signé par Chloé Zhao, sacrée meilleure réalisatrice pour son film Nomadland aux Oscars en 2021. « En général, c’est l’achat média qui coûte le plus cher, explique Julien Thiry. Mais dans le cas du Super Bowl, c’est une des rares fois où le coût de production dépasse le tarif de placement média. Se payer un Seth Rogen [Lay’s] it’s expensive ! »

Rarely Quebec proposals

Footballer Laurent Duvernay-Tardif showed himself smiling in an ad, a 2 L carton of milk in his hand, during the broadcast of the Super Bowl 2021 on RDS. However, Les Producteurs de lait du Québec do not have a new specific message to launch this Sunday. “Here, there are never great efforts made to have specific content, notes Julien Thiry. This year, sport is everywhere in February. »

“For the Vancouver Olympics, for example, it was 32 million over 15 days,” he adds. Advertisers have more interest in focusing on the Olympics. »

“The average audience Bye is about four times that of the Super Bowl [NDLR : 1,113 million de personnes en 2021 à RDS] and advertisers are hesitant to create an ad for the occasion, adds Karine Courtemanche, CEO of placement firms Touché! and PHD Canada. So there are hardly any advertisers advertising specifically for the Super Bowl. The size of the audience does not justify the advertising production costs. »

Since 2019, following a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, the channels present in the country, including the American ones, must broadcast the substituted Canadian signal during the Super Bowl. It is therefore not possible to watch American messages during a match, unless an American advertiser also buys advertising space on a Canadian channel. “That said, even if we have the Canadian signal for pubs, notes Julien Thiry, in 2022, technology makes it possible to watch American pubs…”