Super Bowl Ads Sell Out For As Much As $4 Million Each

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CBS is pulling out all the stops for the Feb. 3 Super Bowl XLVII broadcast—and reaping the profits from it. The network has already sold all of the available commercial spots—some for more than $4 million. A 30-second ad in this year’s game averaged $3.7 to $3.8 million—up from $3.5 million in 2012 when the event averaged more than 111 million viewers.

Yes we are sold out,” CBS chairman and chief executive Leslie Moonves told the New York Times. “But if one of those movie companies want to come in and pay five or six million, we will find room.

Generally 60 to 70 30-second spots play during each Super Bowl game, as well as a few promotional sequences for the network. Moonves hopes to include a “Late Show With David Letterman” promo this year, similar to the hilariously successful spots run in 2007 and 2010.

And it won’t just be CBS’s broadcast network participating in the Super Bowl broadcast from New Orleans, this year. Moonves said nine CBS divisions—including its cable networks, Web sites and radio—and 15 different shows will take part in the Super Bowl broadcast.

We’ve never done anything like this before,” said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus.

Although CBS declined to name any of its Super Bowl advertisers, some sponsors have announced their spots in hopes of building social network buzz among viewers before game day. Paramount Pictures, for example, said will run a commercial for the upcoming “Star Trek Into Darkness” film during the second quarter of the game. Likewise, Anheuser-Busch announced it will run either one or two commercials during the game for a new beer—Budweiser Black Crown.

The 2013 Super Bowl marks the first time the game will be held in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. CBS plans to highlight the city’s recovery in a special called “New Orleans: Let The Good Times Roll,” hosted by musician Wynton Marsalis and airing at noon on Super Bowl Sunday.

[Image via CBS]