Are Americans pumped for Super Bowl LVI? …Or for the ads?

Watching the Super Bowl is an American tradition. Since 2010, between 91 and 114 million TV viewers have tuned in each year. But not all viewers are there for the game play.

The Super Bowl attracts an assorted audience, drawing NFL enthusiasts and football apathists alike. Unlike most season games, the Super Bowl promises more than three-to-four-hours of sacks and touchdowns. Viewers also expect an over-the-top halftime show and uniquely engaging television commercials. And, of course, there are always a few who just show up for the chips and guac.

Football’s biggest night is also advertisers’ biggest night

On a typical night watching TV, many go to great lengths to avoid commercials. But the desire to escape advertising fades on Super Bowl Sunday.

During the Big Game, people excitedly anticipate each brand’s best ideas. A lot is riding on these investments. This year, the cost for a 30-second Super Bowl ad has reached a record-breaking $6.5 million, but it may pay-off given the high level of viewer enthusiasm.

According to a recent Harris Poll study, of those who watched the Super Bowl last year, 62% watched the game because they watch it every year. The second most popular response was that viewers had tuned in to see the ads (41%).

The number of respondents who watched to see the Super Bowl commercials exceeded the number of respondents who watched because they liked one of the participating teams (33%), or those who watched because they liked a particular athlete who was playing (23%).

Looking ahead, of respondents who are at all likely to watch Super Bowl LVI this year, people responded almost as often that they are excited to watch the ads (70%) as they responded that they are excited to watch the gameplay (77%). Watchers are least excited for the halftime show (64%).

Percentage of Respondents who are Excited for each of the Following Aspects of the Super Bowl

Base: At all likely to watch the Super Bowl. (N=898)

QS2Q6: In general, how excited are you for each of the following aspects of the Super Bowl this year?

Who should be advertising?

When asked which types of brands or companies they thought should advertise during the Super Bowl, US adults most often selected health and wellness (47%), foodservice (47%), and entertainment (47%) brands. Packaged food and drink (45%), automotive (43%), and electronics (40%) brands fell close behind.

How will your favorite brands’ ads stack up?

Using data from QuestBrand, we will be measuring how viewers respond to this year’s lineup of Super Bowl ads in our second annual Brand Bowl report!

Keep an eye out after the Big Game as we release a full rundown of Super Bowl LVI’s most successful ads. Ad success is measured on how the company’s overall brand equity score (how audiences value a particular brand) changes from pre- to post- Super Bowl.

A high brand equity growth rate signals that the brand’s advertising efforts effectively increased brand recognition and fostered positive consumer sentiment towards the brand. A low or negative growth rate signals that advertising efforts were less successful in growing the brand’s overall reputation.

Too excited to wait? Revisit last year’s Brand Bowl report from Super Bowl LV to see what strategies worked for the advertising brands in 2021.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll during January 28-31, 2022, among 1,127 US adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. For more information, please contact Madelyn Franz or Andrew Laningham.