How much does a Super Bowl commercial cost in 2026? We take a look at the cost of a 30-second ad this year.
The Super Bowl is a spectacle that attracts the attention of the entire world every single year. Hell, many want the Monday following the game to be a national holiday, since the entire planet is moving a bit slower that day. Yes, Super Bowl LX will be exciting as we get to see the Seattle Seahawks face the New England Patriots, and they have been two of the best teams all season long. However, the excitement outside of the actual football is the reason why it is such a big deal.
Every year, the most annoying person in your life is very excited about this year’s Super Bowl commercials. Somehow, the NFL is the only business that has convinced millions of people that watching advertisements is entertaining. Because of this, the competition and price for businesses to buy advertisement time are on the rise.
At this point, everyone is aware that the price of a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl is an astronomical price. Let’s take a look at how much a 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs in 2026. This will be the price to purchase the advertising time. Of course, the company must then spend money to produce its commercial, and hopefully, it is either good or bad enough to generate some discussion.
How Much Does a Super Bowl Commercial Cost in 2026?
Let’s get to why you’re here — answering how much does a Super Bowl commercial cost in 2026. Make sure you’re sitting down, take your heart medicine and ensure your blood sugar is where it needs to be before reading the answer.
A 30-second commercial spot during Super Bowl LX costs approximately $8 million. This means that companies are paying roughly $266,666 per second of airtime. Despite the steep price tag, all advertising spots sold out by September. You may be wondering how this could be worth it to spend. We’ll get to that in a bit. For now, take a look at how the price of a 30-second Super Bowl commercial has evolved in recent years:
- 2020: $5.6 million per 30-second spot
- 2021: $5.5 million per 30-second spot
- 2022: $6.5 million per 30-second spot
- 2023: $7 million per 30-second spot
- 2024: $7 million per 30-second spot
- 2025: $7-7.5 million per 30-second spot
- 2026: $8 million per 30-second spot
Is the Super Bowl Commercial Cost Worth it For Companies?
Initially, when you see the price tag of $266,666 per second of airtime for a commericial that hasn’t even been produced yet, you may believe there is little justification to invest that money. However, the return on investment (ROI) has actually proven to be quite profitable!
Despite advertising costs increasing over the past five years pretty dramatically, the ROI has actually increased as well. In 2020, the ROI was $2.70, meaning companies saw an increase in sales, brand awareness and marketing value of $2.70 for every dollar spent (on combined commercial production and airtime). In 2023, the ROI skyrocketed to $5.20.
Since then, ROI has continued to increase at roughly 0.8% every year. The means companies are making five times the expenses for their Super Bowl commercial. Due to the Super Bowl now being streamed, and the overall popularity of the NFL, last year’s Super Bowl had a record-breaking 127.7 million viewers. This is the reason for the increased costs and returns, and this year should continue to be up and to the right.
We wrote up some Super Bowl broadcasting prop bets that may be of interest to you, but we have several Super Bowl LX articles detailing how you can make money off the big game as well!
