CBS recently announced that it had sold out all of the advertising slots for the 2013 Super Bowl next month. The average price for a 30-second ad is $3.8 million, with some slots going for more than $4 million per 30 seconds. And the 2012 baseball World Series ads went for $500,000 per 30-second spot.
So, it comes as no surprise that a recent Harris Poll of U.S. adults showed the popularity of the NFL and Major League Baseball. Yet, it is college football that is a sports category whose popularity — and revenue-generating potential — is on the rise. As reported in Ad Age by Michael McCarthy: “With $7.5 billion in revenue, MLB posted its 10th consecutive year of record revenue in 2012. More than 74.8 million fans attended games, the fifth-best record in baseball history. MLB also signed TV deals with Fox, Turner, and ESPN that will double its annual media payout through 2021. According to a study by Scarborough Research, 109.3 million people, or 48% of U.S. adults over 18 years of age, watched, attended, or listened to an MLB game from February 2011 through March 2012. That compares to 92.6 million, or 39% of adults, who watched, attended or listened to a college-football game during the same period. College football was most popular with the 18-to-24-year-old demo and Southerners, according to Harris. Baseball was most popular with 50-to-64-year-olds and Midwesterners.”
Click the chart to read more from McCarthy.
