Super Bowl

Sponsors

Broadcast

VOD

Social

The National Football League annals will forever chronicle Super Bowl LVI as a 23-20 victory by the Los Angeles Rams over the Cincinnati Bengals, with assorted scoring notes and statistical analyses from the contest. But those in attendance at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium as well as the tens of millions of fans watching on televisions around the globe will recall the sport’s championship for its many memorable moments. These moments are precisely why league partners clamor for branding exposure on broadcast graphics, apparel, equipment, stadium signage, and various other visible elements from football’s grandest stage.
‍
Our report details viewership trends throughout Super Bowl LVI with special emphases on minute-to-minute performance as well as differences across the United States’ 210 designated market areas to determine what branding exposure meant in terms of value. But more importantly, we use MVP’s broadcast and social platforms to dissect the unforgettable moments from this year’s game and showcase the impact of climactic junctures on omnichannel value potential for the NFL’s suite of sponsors.

Over time

By DMA

Ebbs and Flows of Viewership

The first true moment of a Super Bowl broadcast is the singing of the national anthem, which was performed this year by country music artist Mickey Guyton. In the minutes leading up to kickoff while she was performing, average viewership was as much as 7% higher for Super Bowl LVI than it was for last year’s big game in Tampa. As the broadcast progressed, viewership was consistently higher for this year’s contest, achieving as much as a 17% boost. On average, there were 71,161,072 viewers watching Super Bowl LVI at any given minute — a 6% increase from Super Bowl LV. Viewership discrepancies were narrowest during the games’ respective halftime shows.

Versus 2021

71,161,072

Average Minute Viewership

Setting the Stage

Anticipation for the Super Bowl LVI halftime show built for months after the NFL announced legendary performers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige would grace the stage. Fans were further enthralled by special appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak.

Pop A Bottle

As the broadcast shifted from the gridiron to musical entertainment, a video montage culminating with the Pepsi logo opened the set. With its first brand exposure shortly after 8:12 p.m. EST, the soft drink company instantly received $966,786 worth of brand value. In a span of two seconds, that number increased to $1.44M.

Bird’s-Eye View

Within two minutes of the halftime show’s commencement, NBC cut to a bird’s-eye view of SoFi Stadium to reveal a raucous crowd and the magnitude of the performers’ sprawling stage. SoFi’s branding throughout the facility immediately delivered $433,995 in broadcast value.

Turning the Value Up

The condensed concert lasted roughly 15 minutes, featuring hit songs that caused many television viewers to reminisce while being fully immersed in the moment. In total, the brief mashup created $37.91M worth of brand value for the show’s title sponsor, Pepsi.

California Love

The brands receiving value from the hip-hop superstars’ performance – Pepsi and SoFi – were shown on the broadcast a total of 16 times combined, with MVP's AI software detecting Pepsi's logo in 12 graphics and SoFi's branding in frame on four separate instances. By show’s end, the pair had collectively received $39.72M in brand value.

The Next Episode

Like most memorable events these days, the Super Bowl LVI halftime show will live in perpetuity on social media, with highlights allowing fans to relive their favorite moments simply by opening Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. From one day prior to the Super Bowl through the day after its conclusion, social posts related to the concert helped drive an additional $1.61M in brand value for Pepsi.

Pepsi

SoFi

Ready To Be Fitted

By bursting through the offensive line and forcing Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to throw an errant pass on fourth down with under a minute remaining, Aaron Donald secured a Rams victory with a game-defining moment. In gesturing toward the finger which will soon call his Super Bowl ring home, Donald brought Nike’s logo front and center on viewers’ televisions.

One for the Money

Immediately after making the game-clinching play, NBC fixated on a helmetless Aaron Donald emphatically displaying his Nike gloves. The live shot created $222,182 worth of real-time brand value for the multinational apparel company.

Two for the Show

With all that was on the line during such a critical point in the game, Aaron Donald’s celebration became an extension of the defensive stop. As a result, NBC showed a slow-motion replay of the defensive star declaring himself a champion, increasing Nike’s brand value from the moment to $777,635 within a minute.

Celebratory Encore

Two shots were not enough. Producers had to make it three. With a third showing of Aaron Donald’s finger-pointing celebration, NBC boosted Nike’s brand value earned from that single moment by an additional $333,273.

A Finger Worth Seven Figures

During the six minutes ending at 10:07 p.m. EST, Nike received $1.11M worth of brand value on NBC’s Super Bowl LVI broadcast thanks to its globally known Swoosh becoming a focal point of one of the game’s central moments.

Appreciating Value

Posts across media accounts, NFL channels, L.A. Rams pages, and more helped boost the fleeting moment’s value by an additional $92,102 on social, bringing Nike’s total value created to $1.2M.

Bathing in Blue Glory

A rite of passage for championship coaches is the sobering splash of ice-cold Gatorade dumped on their backs during euphoric celebrations after games are in hand. Rams defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson made such a bath a reality for Sean McVay after Super Bowl LVI’s final play, pouring gallons of blue Gatorade from a branded cooler all over the team’s head coach.

Chilling Moment

Before the final seconds had even ticked off the clock in Super Bowl LVI, Gatorade had earned $147,546 worth of broadcast brand value from the live celebratory bath that soaked Sean McVay as he tried to avoid the icy deluge that has long been a tradition of title-winning teams.

Drowning in Delight

A three-year revenge tour for those who were part of the Rams’ organization when they lost Super Bowl LIII three years ago culminated with Sean McVay’s Gatorade bath, so showing it an additional three times was a fitting conclusion to the arduous journey. The replays were worth $290,738, $971,065, and $872,320, respectively, to Gatorade.

Liquid Treasure

Gatorade amassed $2.28M in broadcast brand value from the live view and replays combined. The decades-old ritual has become a focal point of Super Bowl broadcasts, meaning fans annually await the moment that signals the season’s triumphant conclusion before turning away from the game.

The Legend Continues

Just as Aaron Donald’s magical moment was shared widely on social media, so too was the Gatorade bath delivered by his linemate A’Shawn Robinson. A plethora of accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube helped generate an additional $72K in brand value for the sports drink company.

By Brands

By Placement

Exposure Overview

Overwhelmingly, the most oft-seen brand during Super Bowl LVI was Bose, which received seven minutes and eight seconds worth of exposure by virtue of the company’s logo adorning headsets worn by coaches on the sideline. Occupying the second and third positions in terms of brand exposure were Pepsi and SoFi, which each earned significant airtime during the halftime show.

Exposure detailed

The chart below highlights each instance during Super Bowl LVI when MVP’s artificial intelligence detected logos from NFL partners on NBC’s broadcast. It shows in detail when the branding was present on screen, how long it was featured, and the value generated as a result. We encourage you to use your cursor to explore the game's moments through brand exposure and placements.

By Brands

By Placement

Broadcast Brand Value Generated

We have also itemized the totality of brand value generated by league partners over the course of the Super Bowl LVI broadcast. Graphics integration yielded results superior to all other forms of branding placement, netting $67.95M worth of brand value for Pepsi, Samsung, SoFi, and Verizon. Pepsi, largely as a result of branding shown during the halftime show, led all NFL partners by receiving $51.54M in brand value.

By Brands

By Placement