• by Wayne Friedman , December 4, 2013

Tight supply and big demand registered a quick sellout of Fox’s Super Bowl game next February -- with advertising pricing estimated to be 10% higher on average versus a year ago, according to media executives.

Super Bowl pricing has been estimated to have hit another record -- as high as $4.5 million for some 30-second commercials. For the previous Super Bowl, aired by CBS this past February, the high price was around $4 million for a 30-second commercial, with overall average pricing at around $3.8 million.

Fox says 43 advertisers have bought commercial time in the game in 30-second, 60-second and two-minute formats. Typically, Super Bowl advertising time consists of advertising time roughly amounting to 65 to 70 30-second commercials.

Some of the sponsors in this year’s game include Anheuser-Busch InBev; Butterfinger; Chevrolet; Doritos; GoDaddy.com; Hyundai; Intuit; Jaguar; Mars; Oikos; PepsiCo Beverages; and Wonderful Pistachios. Major categories that bought time in the year’s game include automotive, electronics and packaged-goods.

Neil Mulcahy, executive vice president of Fox Sports Sales, stated: “The demand for in-game advertising time for Super Bowl XLVIII is actually greater than the supply, which is a terrific problem for us to have.”  He says the game has sold out a month earlier than a year ago.

But he added that Fox has advertising opportunities on its digital platforms to offer advertisers that want to associate their products with the Super Bowl. In addition, Fox and its Fox Sports 1 cable network have much pre-Super Bowl inventory for sale.

Estimates are that Super Bowl spots online are priced around $60 for the cost per thousand viewers (CPM), according to media executives. This contrasts to around a $40 CPM for buying advertising time in the traditional TV broadcast.

A year ago, a combination of online platforms for the Super Bowl pulled 3 million digital viewers. In 2012, the first time the Super Bowl was put online, it pulled in 2.1 million Internet viewers.

The game will air Sunday, Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ -- the first to be played at an outdoor, cold-weather location .