• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 11, 2010

Even as some companies continue to return to the Super Bowl annually, there is still a significant amount of turnover that allows new ones to come in, according to a new report. Each year, perhaps a quarter of the advertiser lineup is made up of first-timers.

"We have things like the Academy Awards and other high-profile events that have sponsorship deals attached to them where the advertising turnover is fairly limited from year to year," said Jon Swallen, head of research at TNS Media Intelligence, which conducted the study. "Once people get into the Academy Awards, they want to try to hang on to it as long as they can."

In the last Super Bowl, veteran advertisers such as General Motors and FedEx opened spots for new entrants. But even before, opportunities were there annually for smaller companies that could find a $2.5 million to $3 million price of entry.

The TNS report notes that since 2005, the game has included 30-plus different advertisers each year -- with up to one-quarter first-timers. Last year, that collection of newbies included Denny's, Teleflora and Vizio.

The TNS pre-Super Bowl report also found that over the past 20 years, the five highest-spending advertisers ponied up a combined $783 million: 36% of the total ad revenue. Anheuser-Busch and PepsiCo have been the two top spenders. PepsiCo will not plug its flagship drink this year, but will remain in the game.

Last year, the report says, NBC took home $213 million from the game -- up from $39 million the 1990 game, which CBS aired.

TNS noted that just the single Super Bowl game in 2009 yielded much more revenue than the three games in the NCAA Final Four ($163 million), and only $20 million less than a six-game World Series. In 2008, the Super Bowl eclipsed the total haul for a five-game World Series on Fox.

TNS also said that the network carrying the game is actually the leading advertiser, taking over 7 minutes to plug its programming each year. Last year, NBC used 16% of all national ad time for house ads.