The most expensive TV advertising slots in the world have been booked for this Sunday when the fiftieth American Super Bowl jamboree in Levi’s stadium, Santa Clara, California, is played out, 40 miles north of San Francisco.
The annual US National Football League showdown reached a stupendous 120.3 TV million viewers last year. For the fourth time in a row, fizzy drink Pepsi will be sponsoring this golden time in which only the biggest companies can hope to get a slot.
Millions of fans of American football around the globe will watch battle rage between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. The ad slots are priced at $5m (£3.45m) for 30 seconds, making the golden jubilee of the Superbowl the most expensive ever for advertisers, according to the game’s broadcast partner CBS TV.
Katy Perry’s impressive performance during the Super Bowl XLIX halftime reached 118.5 million TV viewers in 2015. / Photo: Karl Walter, Getty Images.
Two key non-sporting highlights of modern-day Superbowl are the showbiz A-List performers booked for the entertainment of the crowds (and the viewing couch potatoes as well, of course). Before kick-off there is the patriotic triumphalism of the Star Spangled Banner – this year belted out by the incongruous figure of Lady Gaga.
Whilst at halftime British rockers Coldplay take to the stage along with a certain Mrs Beyoncé West and Bruno Mars. Previous Superbowl half-time acts have included Katy Perry last year, Janet Jackson (and her infamous “wardrobe malfunction”), Justin Timberlake and Madonna.
There are still tickets available at the official resale Box Office to attend the match in person on Sunday 7 February at 15.30 US East Coast time – at about $3,400 (£2,345) the cheapest. If you can’t join the fun, don’t worry, apart from American CBS, it will also be broadcast by many international TV channels such as the BBC and Sky TV.
