• by Wayne Friedman , September 30, 2016

Three weeks of NFL programming has pulled in slightly less TV advertising revenues in total for its networks -- partly due to much lower revenue from sports fantasy leagues.

From September 8 through September 29, the NFL pulled in $565 million national TV advertising dollars -- down 1% from $572 million over the same time frame a year ago, according to iSpot.tv.

This year, 361 brands and 856 spots aired 2,297 times nationally. A year ago there were 316 brands, and 724 spots, airing 2,261 times.

Sports fantasy leagues are spending much less. Collectively, FanDuel ($29.3 million) and DraftKings ($23.8 million) spent $53.1 million a year ago. In 2016, the two companies have spent less than $2.5 million -- $2.2 million for FanDuel and $551 of DraftKings.

Helping make up some ground this year so far are insurance marketers, growing to $43.8 million from $30.8 million last season.

So far this year, Verizon ($30.2 million); GEICO, ($23.1 million); Toyota, ($16.9 million); Hyundai ($14.6 million); and DirectTV ($13.3 million) are the biggest individual NFL advertisers.

Last year, through three weeks, the largest advertisers were: FanDuel ($29.3 million); DraftKings ($23.8 million); Verizon ($22.3 million); GEICO ($15.0 million); and Samsung Mobile ($13.4 million).