• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 17, 2009

As it preps for its Feb. 7 Super Bowl appearance, Cars.com said it is spending handsomely to advertise in high-profile sports events to end the year.

There are halftime sponsorships of 10 college bowl games on ESPN, and spots on the network's "Monday Night Football." It is not clear how those buys may be related to college-football linked efforts on ESPN this fall.

Also, Cars.com said it has buys on NFL broadcasts on CBS and NBC and more bowl-game appearances on CBS.

The company said its year-end blitz -- as an improving economy lifts its business -- starts Saturday.

Its Super Bowl spot will be 60 seconds and serve as a launch platform for its 2010 advertising efforts, Cars.com said.

Mitch Golub, Cars.com president, stated that "consumer confidence [is] growing; car buyers are increasingly returning to market." He said the company has "seen leads rise 9% above the same period last year."

Cars.com spent $21.7 million through the first nine months of 2009 on TV, print, radio, Internet and outdoor, down from $42.5 million for the same period a year ago, according to TNS Media Intelligence.