Comcast’s US media giant NBC Universal (NBCU), the domestic broadcaster for the National Football League’s showpiece Super Bowl finale in 2026, has sold out its advertising inventory for the season-ending American football game.
Announced by NBCU just days before the NFL’s 2025-26 season starts, it is the earliest that a Super Bowl broadcaster has confirmed a sold-out ad inventory.
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NBCU is set to air Super Bowl LX, being staged at California’s Levi’s Stadium in five months, on February 8, 2026, across its linear NBC, streaming platform Peacock, and Spanish-language channel Telemundo.
Last edition’s rightsholder, US media giant Fox Corp, announced it had sold out its inventory three months before this year’s Super Bowl LIX in February.
NBCU is serving as the exclusive home to next year’s Super Bowl as part of a multi-year, multi-broadcaster deal that sees domestic rights for the showpiece rotate between US media giants Fox, NBCUniversal-owned NBC, Disney's ABC and ESPN, and the CBS network owned by Paramount.
Back in March, it was reported that NBCU was seeking at least $7 million per 30-second commercial spot for its broadcast of the upcoming Super Bowl, after Fox managed to sell certain spots for $8 million due to unprecedented demand.
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By GlobalDataFox revealed in February that it generated around $800 million in ad revenue from its telecast of this year's Super Bowl. Sponsors included PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Instacart, Stellantis, and Unilever.
For the 2024 edition, Paramount-owned CBS had reportedly sought around $6.5 million per 30-second ad slot.
Peter Lazarus, NBC Sports and Olympics advertising and partnerships executive vice president, said: “Coming off of the strongest sports Upfront in our company’s history, Super Bowl LX has generated extraordinary interest from brands and allowed us to sell out of our ad inventory earlier than ever.
“With a monumental year ahead, we are proud of the incredible momentum thus far and are excited to offer both fans and brands an unrivaled slate of sports programming starting with the NFL kickoff.”
The broadcaster also confirmed it has sold 90% of its NFL ad inventory separate from the Super Bowl, securing 150 partners for its “Sunday Night Football” broadcast, with nearly 40 new additions.
On the back of the announcements, NBCU said the upcoming NFL season marks its highest-grossing season to date for overall advertising and partnership revenue.
In July, NBCU announced the closure of “record-breaking” upfront ad sales negotiations for the 2025-26 cycle, claiming that it had secured its highest-ever sales volume for the period.
Across 2025-26, NBC will showcase three tentpole events: the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, soccer’s 2026 FIFA World Cup (via Spanish-language network Telemundo), and the NFL Super Bowl.
Each of the three tournaments outpaced previous benchmarks on NBCU, with Telemundo also experiencing its best upfront ad window ever thanks to the prospect of the 2026 World Cup, which will be staged across the US, Mexico, and Canada.
Beyond that trio of major events, further NBCU seasonal rights such as golf, Nascar, and the recent acquisition of National Basketball Association content, have powered NBCU to a 20% year-on-year increase in new clients and a 45% year-on-year increase in overall volume outside of those big three events.
NBCU’s sports broadcast slate could yet expand, with the TV heavyweight also reportedly circling a Major League Baseball rights pickup ahead of 2026.
Digital ad sales also grew thanks to the continued expansion of the Peacock OTT streaming service, with 20% year-on-year advertising growth, meaning the business now represents as much as a third of NBCU’s overall upfront ad sales.
