The National Football League is scoring big numbers for its TV partners this season, with ad revenue up 14% so far, according to an analysis by MediaRadar.
MediaRadar said preseason games generated $41.9 million in TV ad revenue. A year ago, preseason games were all canceled due to the pandemic.
Also Read: NFL Network Called A ‘Must Have’ by Cable Subscribers: Beta Survey
So far regular season games on six networks — ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and NFL Network — have generated $1.1 billion, up 10% from $1 billion a year ago.
With the preseason revenue added in, the networks are up 14% from a year ago.
Also Read: Disney Gets Monday Night NFL Wild Card Game for ESPN, ABC
“Broadcasters are seeing a meaningful increase in revenue compared to last year,” said Todd Krizelman, CEO and cofounder, MediaRadar. “As the months continue, it’s likely that we’ll see even more year-over-year growth.”
MediaRadar said the 28 nationally televised regular season games generated an average of $39.3 million.
The top advertisers on NFL games so far this season are Geico, Progressive, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile.
Before the season started network sales executives were upbeat about how NFL sales and sports sales in general were doing.
Also Read: NBC Sells Super Bowl Spot for $6.5 Million
Fox, which has the Super Bowl that will be played in 2023 — after next season — had already begun selling spots in that game.
Through week six of the season, the NFL says its games are averaging 16.6 million TV and digital viewers per game, up 11% from 2020. NFL games are the top 33 games on TV since the start of the season.
The biggest game of the season to date occurred when Tom Brady returned to New England with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to play the Patriots. That Week 4 game, airing on NBC, drew 26.7 million viewers.
