The National Football League has many corporate sponsors. When you sit down and watch a Sunday night game, you will likely see hundreds of ads both discreet and in your face. Most of the time, you see repeats too. We all know that the automobile, soft drink, and beer industries do the best as NFL affiliates. But who made it to the top last year? Of course, it is a beer company.
1. Anheuser-Busch (A-B inBEv) spent about $134 million dollars total.
2. The US Government (including General Motors) came in second spending about $127 million in total.
3. Toyota was third with a $107.8 spent.
4. Ford spent about $97 million.
5. The NFL itself put in about $97 million for advertisements last year.
6. Miller Coors spent about $88 million total.
7. Sprint Nextel Company put in about $82 million.
8. Southwest Airlines spent about $66 million last year.
9. Verizon Wireless spent around $64 million.
10. And AT&T came in number ten spending about $64 million dollars on ads during the NFL 2009 season.
So how do these affiliates make deals? Well check out some of the advertising deals made in previous years.
o Beer: In 2005, it was agreed that Coors Brewing Co. would pay a total of $500 million over a five year period to become the NFL's official beer sponsor. This was a 67% increase from the previous year's deal. On an annual basis, the NFL takes in about $70 million for advertising.
o Soft drinks/snacks: the PepsiCo is spending over $1 billion on two major deals with the NFL. They are paying $560 million for Pepsi, Frit-Lays, and Tropicana to be advertised and an additional $500 million for Gatorade ads, all which will expire in February of 2011.
o Apparel: Beginning back in 2002, Reebok made a 10-year agreement with the league to pay $250 million in order to be the official outfitter of the NFL.
o Cars: Every year, General Motors pays out at least $140 million to be NFL's official car of choice. This four year deal which was signed back in 2005 split the vehicle status between three NFL periods. GMC trucks would be advertised during the regular season, Cadillac during the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, and of course the Hummer during the NFL Draft.
If that wasn't enough, CBS has sold about 65% of their inventory for the game. As you can see, crazy amounts of money is spent during the NFL pre-season, post season, and of course during the Super Bowl. I couldn't blame them, the NFL is huge. So keep your eye out this season for commercials with the new Ford F150 Exhaust, the luxurious Cadillac Escalade, and of course the big mean Hummer because millions were spent for your very own viewing pleasure.
