The Data: Top NFL Ad Spenders in Media and Entertainment

As the NFL season returns, companies continue to invest heavily in ad spending. MediaRadar conducted an analysis that included a sampling of ad spending on U.S. television broadcasts, including cable networks—namely ABC, CBS, The CW, Disney, ESPN, Fox, NBC, NFL Network, and Telemundo, as well as their sister channels (eg. : Fox Deportes, ETC).

“Last year, digital currency players made a splash by entering the NFL’s game day advertisers,” said Todd Krizelman, CEO and founder of MediaRadar. “Between top cryptocurrency names like Coinbase, Crypto.com, and FTX, there is a total of $67 million in ad investment. Plus, we’re seeing a surge in EV companies getting into the ad game, with new advertisers like Wallbox playing in the NFL regular season. demonstrated their electric vehicle charging solution. Will we see the trend of new players on the big stage continuing into the 2022 NFL season? Looking at preseason spending this year, we expect companies like streaming services and financial providers will be a top advertiser.”

Key findings include:

Top categories for ads during the NFL preseason

• Despite the year-over-year decline in ad investment, media and entertainment remained the dominant category for the preseason. Subscription streaming services, fantasy football leagues and mobile apps remain the biggest consumers this year.
• Insurance companies, banks and accountants (tax) are the top financial advertisers for the 2022 preseason.
• In the technology category, cell phone providers, web browsers and financial software led the preseason this year.
• Automakers increase investment in preseason to promote their new models

Ads during the NFL 2021 and 2020 seasons

During the 2020 NFL season (September 2020-February 2021), over $6 billion was spent on advertising, according to a MediaRadar data sample. During the 2021 NFL season (September 2021-February 2022), the investment grew 14% year over year to more than $6.8 billion.

• The 2021 NFL season saw a 4% year-over-year increase in the number of companies and a 7% year-over-year increase in the number of brands showcased this season.
• 60% (510) of companies advertised during both the 2020 and 2021 NFL seasons.
• The three top advertisers for the 2021 NFL season are Amazon, Apple and Toyota — with a combined spend of nearly $571 million. Toyota was the only company with a 6% year-over-year decline. Amazon and Apple grew 5% and 229% year over year, respectively.

Top categories for ads during the 2021 and 2020 NFL seasons

During the 2021 NFL season, the top five categories accounted for 23% (over $1.5 billion) of total ad investment.

• While insurers are the biggest advertisers for the 2021 NFL season, ad spending is down 3% year over year — with 10 companies still investing nearly $497 million.
• Companies such as Intuit and Lowe’s advertise their apps, but cryptocurrencies (Crypto.com and FTX) and gambling companies (888.com) have also joined the ranks of showcasing apps.
• Despite a 19% year-over-year decline, the NFL season saw a whopping $282 million in investment in fast food service restaurants.
• In 2021, ad spending from mobile phone providers will exceed $271 million, a drop of nearly 40%. All major advertisers were down: AT&T was down 70% year over year, T-Mobile was down 55% year over year, and Verizon was down 4% year over year.
• Of the nearly $225 million invested in 2021 advertising imported car brands, 81 percent will come from the top three spenders of the NFL season: Honda, Hyundai and Toyota, each investing more than $50 million.