Over 123 million people worldwide tuned into Super Bowl LIX this year to see the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles. Whether you watched from a sports bar, from your couch or from the seats at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, you likely encountered a number of highlights from the game itself, the electrifying halftime performance and the hilarious array of eye-popping ads. It’s long been known that the big game is the premiere advertising event of the year, as brands across the nation have a chance to place their product or service in front of millions of viewers from all over the globe. Many major companies utilize their Super Bowl ad space to launch brand new products, high-ticket expansions or comedic pop culture zingers designed to be dissected by the water cooler the following week.

But how much are these companies really paying out to get their ads out there? It seems as though each Super Bowl carries an exponential price tag for air time, even though LIX in particular was streaming completely for free on Tubi. Since advertising during the coveted game is so significant, it only makes sense that we dive into the cost, logistics and process of getting a Super Bowl ad on the air. Let’s dive right in and see what we can learn from 2025’s single biggest day in global marketing.

How Much Does It Cost To Air A Super Bowl Ad?

According to official ad-sense data, the cost of a 30-second television ad during Super Bowl LIX was nearly $8 million in total. This is without taking into consideration the price of shooting, editing and VFX mapping the ad, which often brings a secondary multi-million dollar price tag. With nearly a full hour of time dedicated to ads alone, this means that Fox raked in hundreds of millions of dollars selling TV commercial space for the big game. Not such a bad return on investment considering the network has a contract with the NFL which sees them shelling out over $2 billion annually for the rights to the broadcast.

Last year, the same 30-second commercial spots clocked in at just $7 million, meaning the price has been exponentially rising. Marketing execs from some of the largest advertising firms have collectively agreed that the Super Bowl is due to break $1 billion in ad revenue within the next year or two if costs continue to balloon at this pace. The first ever Super Bowl, which aired back in 1967, charged a comparatively paltry $37,500 for a 30-second spot. The first big game to crack the $1 million threshold was Super Bowl XXIX in 1995. On very rare occasions, such as 1984’s Super Bowl XVIII and 2007’s XLI, the price for ad space actually saw a slight decrease. You can check out a full breakdown of cost per year below.

The Cost Of A Super Bowl Ad By Year

  • Super Bowl I – $37,500 (1967)
  • Super Bowl II –$54,500 (1968)
  • Super Bowl III – $55,000 (1969)
  • Super Bowl IV – $78,200 (1970)
  • Super Bowl V – $72,500 (1971)
  • Super Bowl VI – $86,100 (1972)
  • Super Bowl VII – $88,100 (1973)
  • Super Bowl VIII – $103,500 (1974)
  • Super Bowl IX – $107,000 (1975)
  • Super Bowl X – $110,000 (1976)
  • Super Bowl XI – $125,000 (1977)
  • Super Bowl XII – $162,300 (1978)
  • Super Bowl XIII – $185,000 (1979)
  • Super Bowl XIV – $222,000 (1980)
  • Super Bowl XV – $275,000 (1981)
  • Super Bowl XVI – $324,300 (1982)
  • Super Bowl XVII – $400,000 (1983)
  • Super Bowl XVIII – $368,200 (1984)
  • Super Bowl XIX – $525,000 (1985)
  • Super Bowl XX – $550,000 (1986)
  • Super Bowl XXI – $600,000 (1987)
  • Super Bowl XXII – $645,500 (1988)
  • Super Bowl XXIII – $675,500 (1989)
  • Super Bowl XXIV – $700,400 (1990)
  • Super Bowl XXV – $800,000 (1991)
  • Super Bowl XXVI – $850,000 (1992)
  • Super Bowl XXVII – $850,000 (1993)
  • Super Bowl XXVIII – $900,000 (1994)
  • Super Bowl XXIX – $1.15 million (1995)
  • Super Bowl XXX – $1.085 million (1996)
  • Super Bowl XXXI – $1.2 million (1997)
  • Super Bowl XXXII – $1.29 million (1998)
  • Super Bowl XXXIII – $1.6 million (1999)
  • Super Bowl XXXIV – $2.1 million (2000)
  • Super Bowl XXXV – $2.2 million (2001)
  • Super Bowl XXXVI – $2.2 million (2002)
  • Super Bowl XXXVII – $2.2 million (2003)
  • Super Bowl XXXVIII – $2.3 million (2004)
  • Super Bowl XXXIX – $2.4 million (2005)
  • Super Bowl XL – $2.5 million (2006)
  • Super Bowl XLI – $2.3 million (2007)
  • Super Bowl XLII – $2.6 million (2008)
  • Super Bowl XLIII – $2.9 million (2009)
  • Super Bowl XLIV – $2.9 million (2010)
  • Super Bowl XLV – $3.1 million (2011)
  • Super Bowl XLVI – $3.5 million (2012)
  • Super Bowl XLVII – $3.8 million (2013)
  • Super Bowl XLVIII – $4 million (2014)
  • Super Bowl XLIX – $4.25 million (2015)
  • Super Bowl L – $4.5 million (2016)
  • Super Bowl LI – $5 million (2017)
  • Super Bowl LII – $5.2 million (2018)
  • Super Bowl LIII – $5.3 million (2019)
  • Super Bowl LIV – $5.6 million (2020)
  • Super Bowl LV – $5.5 milllion (2021)
  • Super Bowl LVI – $6.5 million (2022)
  • Super Bowl LVII – $7 million (2023)
  • Super Bowl LVIII – $7 million (2024)
  • Super Bowl LIX – $7.99 million (2025)

Is The Price Really Worth It?

Though the massive price tag shuts out smaller businesses from being able to participate in the biggest advertising day of the year, Super Bowl ads do seem to have a surprisingly good return on investment. According to a report in Forbes, nearly a third of Super Bowl viewers claim that they’re tuning in to specifically watch ads. This makes the big game one of the only moments in the year where advertisements are regarded as a welcome break in the action, and not a nuisance designed to frustrate viewers into paying for premium streaming uncharges.

Controversial rap mogul Kanye West famously delivered a haphazard no-budget ad at last year’s Super Bowl, which he shot on his iPhone as though it were a social media broadcast. After shelling out over $7 million for the commercial, West reportedly took in nearly $20 million in sales over the following 24 hours. Clearly the “Carnival” rapper considered this to be a major success, since he delivered a sequel advertisement at Super Bowl LIX. Forbes estimates that Super Bowl commercials in general are roughly 20 times more effective than standard television ads. This is only exacerbated by the fact that advertisers syndicate their event material into long-running TV slots, allowing the corporations to profit off of their creation for months or even years to come.

What Is The Most Expensive Super Bowl Ad Of All Time?

While numerous marketing productions have clocked in at eight-figure price ranges, only one holds the title for most expensive Super Bowl commercial of all time. The 2022 Amazon Alexa advertisement delivered at Super Bowl LVI holds the distinction for taking a whopping $26 million to produce. “Saturday Night Live” comedian Colin Jost appears in the ad alongside his real-life wife and Marvel’s “Avengers” star Scarlett Johansson, as they navigate the highs and lows of an Amazon device that can literally read its user’s minds.

This particular ad ran for 90 seconds as opposed to the standard 30, meaning Amazon paid out another $19.5 million to get the ad on the air, for a combined total of over $45 million. While we don’t have the exact figures for return on investment correlating to the ad, we can confirm that the conglomerate took in more than $225 billion in annual gross profits that year, so we’re certain they could afford the hit.