Automakers return to advertising’s biggest arena: the NFL

Automakers are rushing to advertise during the National Football League season after recent years of economic slowdown.

Toyota Motor Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company and the Detroit automakers are among those expected to use the NFL and its games as major advertising platforms in the coming months. Toyota, in particular, is entering the football season as the “Official Automotive Partner of the NFL,” a first for the world’s largest automaker.

“There are so many variables that can impact budgets, but automakers are starting to come back,” said Ryan Briganti, head of ad sales for CBS Sports at Paramount, which broadcasts NFL games weekly on CBS and Paramount+. “We have auto ads across our entire portfolio.”

The auto industry has significantly cut advertising and marketing budgets in recent years because it has not had enough vehicles to sell. The Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain issues have caused historic lows in vehicle inventory levels. But vehicle inventory levels are rising amid high interest rates and economic concerns, and automakers are turning to live sports, especially the NFL, to help promote new products.

General Motors, for example, expects to increase its ad spending by more than $400 million in the second half of the year compared to the first six months to promote new or redesigned vehicles. GM declined to discuss specifics of the spending, including how much of that amount is specifically related to the NFL ad, but reiterated that it remains well below historical levels.

The NFL is a key part of the ad strategy for automakers. Last NFL season, from September through February, about 44% of automotive ad budgets on national television were allocated to the NFL, according to media planning and data firm Guideline. That compares with 31% across all sectors, the company says.

“The NFL’s impact on the automotive advertising industry is really, really significant,” said Alberto Leyes, head of product strategy at Guideline.

Fueling TV viewership

NFL games dominate traditional television viewership. Last year, NFL regular-season games averaged 17.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl averaged 123.7 million viewers.

The NFL’s continued viewership — despite consumers shifting away from paid TV — has led to an increase in the value of media rights deals, which in turn have been a significant factor in NFL team valuations. An NFL team is now worth an average of $6.49 billion, according to CNBC’s official 2024 NFL Team Valuations.

The advertising market has generally shown signs of recovery this year, particularly in streaming and digital players. Overall, live sports continue to generate the most ad spend, regardless of the recession.

“We saw much stronger growth in 2024 than we did in any year post-Covid,” Leyes said of overall media spending. “We know we’ll have a strong second half of the year as well, with the NFL coming back.”

According to advertising data firm iSpot, automakers were the most visible brand industry during the last NFL season, accounting for more than 10% of TV ad views.

Disney, which airs “Monday Night Football” on its television and streaming networks, notably ESPN, has seen “positive, continuous double-digit growth over the last five years” in ad spending from automakers, said Andrew Messina, senior vice president of sales for Disney Advertising. Messina noted growth particularly for Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan Motor and Chrysler parent Stellantis.

Messina said brands have also begun to expand commitments to include sponsorship opportunities alongside advertising placements.

Automakers have “key marketing real estate” in “Sunday Night Football,” which airs on Comcast’s NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock, said Mark Marshall, president of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. While traditional TV still accounts for the dominant share of car advertising, it has grown on Peacock, which has aired exclusive NFL games over the past year.

NFL broadcast viewership increased by about 7% over the past season, according to Guideline, while ad spending on NFL programming doubled that, to 14%. Automotive ad spending has increased by 17% over the past two seasons and is expected to increase again this year, according to Leyes.

“We saw a 139% year-over-year increase for automotive brands as they look to more precisely manage their media spend in the complex U.S. market,” said Jenny Wall, chief marketing officer at TV measurement firm VideoAmp.

New advertising campaigns

As the “Official Automotive Partner of the NFL,” Toyota this week launched a new ad campaign for the NFL season called “Roll Deep.”

It debuted as an “anthem spot” for the campaign. Toyota also played a major role in the first game of the NFL season on Thursday night.

For Toyota, it will be the start of “a full season of content across linear broadcast, digital, paid social media and gaming formats,” the carmaker said.

Toyota’s decision to partner with the NFL was made after a comprehensive analysis of its marketing and advertising spend, according to Dedra DeLilli, vice president of marketing communications for Toyota North America.

The automaker previously advertised and sponsored NFL games but decided the best media spend option would be to expand its partnership and become the league’s official automotive sponsor.

“The most compelling aspect of this partnership is that we have access to 218 million incredibly diverse, highly engaged NFL fans. That’s almost 72% of the population. You won’t find that kind of scale and diversity in any other sport in the United States,” DeLilli said.

“It’s a perfect combination,” she said.

DeLilli declined to disclose Toyota’s spending on NFL ads. It comes after Toyota’s successful partnership with this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.

Stellantis is expected to soon release new ads for the NFL season, featuring the Jeep brand, but a spokeswoman declined to provide more details.

Hyundai will continue to play a significant role in NFL broadcasts, including as the lead sponsor of Sunday’s NFL Opening Night on NBC for the seventh consecutive year.

The company declined to provide details of its spending plans, but Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker said the company’s spending would likely remain in line with last year.

“We want to capture consumers’ attention when they’re watching live TV,” he told CNBC. “We think that’s really, really important from a strategic perspective. … Especially with sporting events, you’re seeing viewership grow year over year.”

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. rights holder for all Summer and Winter Olympics through 2032.

More on CNBC:

• Big Lots files for bankruptcy protection, sells to private equity firm

• As the IRS targets wealthy Americans, here are the warning signs for ordinary taxpayers

• Economists say ‘vibecession’ is coming to an end, US economy is landing softly