Commentary

Super Bowl Ad Or A Private Island?

It’s the ad world’s favorite time of the year again — Super Bowl Sunday. With it brings the thrill of ratings, celebrity appearances and 30 seconds that can make or break your brand among one of the largest audiences in the world. It’s been reported that Fox is asking between $5 million and $5.5 million for a single 30-second ad, and that’s just the ad buy itself. Add on the production, talent cost and budget spend to extend the creative through other platforms and the financial layout is more than staggering.

Of course, there is no other venue that provides brands with a live audience that is as eager for the ads as they are for the event itself. But, with NFL ratings slowly decreasing, some brands may be questioning if the huge price tag is still warranted.

With this in mind, I did some digging to get a sense of what $5 million can get you in the world of sports and beyond. Some are silly and some are legitimate business costs. But either way, it was fun to see what $5 million can get you these days, especially on things that last way longer than 30 seconds.

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1. Your own private island in Belize

At just $4.5 million, this 43-acre private island and resort in Belize can be all yours. And you can enjoy it for much longer than 30 seconds. At this price, you will even have money left over for private aviation.

2. Super Bowl tickets for 571 friends

Currently on Ticketmaster, field level, 25-yard line seats are running about $8,750 a piece. At this rate, you can bring 571 of your nearest and dearest friends to see the big game in close-up style.

3. Two NFL or NBA players’ salaries

In 2015, the average NFL player salary was $2.1 million. At $5 million, that’s more than twice the average. The typical NBA player clocks in at $2.5 million a year.

4. 19 Bentley Continental GT Speeds

With a price tag of $264,300, you can buy 19 top of the line 2016 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertibles, currently the fifth most expensive luxury car.

5. 10 Days of Sponsored Snapchat Lenses

At approximately $500,000 a day for a sponsored Snapchat lens (Friday and Saturday), $5 million will buy you 10 days of a lens. Its been reported that Snapchat users interact with the branded lenses for 20 seconds.

6. 400 hours of private flight time

If you get the private island, you’ll need a way to hop on over. Five million dollars will get you more than 400 hours on NetJets to take you there in style and comfort.

7. Your Own eSports Team

You could buy your own eSports franchise and participate in the category in sports that is growing the fastest. Per industry inside sources, eSports team acquisitions have ranged from as little as $2 million to upwards of $30 million in recent past.

8. 20 tickets to outer space 

Fly Virgin Galactic at $250,000 a pop for membership in the Future Astronauts program and a seat to space.

9. Pay off the fines for NFL touchdown celebrations

In 2016, the NFL doled out fines for excessive touchdown celebrations, at the rate of $12,154 each. At that rate, $5,000,000 will cover the fines for 411 players – more than enough for players to get their dabbing, twerking and salsa moves on.

10. Buy back Kim Kardashian’s stolen Paris jewels.

Recently reported insurance documents state that Kim Kardashian’s stolen jewelry from her Paris hotel room are worth $5.6 million. You can buy them back for her… . It’s the least we can do to show both Kanye and Kim K our profound appreciation.

For many brands, making a splash on the largest television stage is well worth the money spent. But if a Super Bowl ad isn’t in the cards for you, I hope you’ll consider a few of my suggestions.

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