NFL Regular-Season Viewing Up 9%, TV Ad Revenue 3% Higher

• by Wayne Friedman , January 12, 2024

Regular-season NFL games continue to thrive with an increase in national TV advertising and viewing -- with the average game rising 9% to 18.1 million Nielsen-measured viewers among the five top networks and Prime Video for the 2023 season.

Among the four broadcast/cable TV network groups (NBC, Fox, CBS and ABC-ESPN), total national TV advertising revenue rose 3% to $3.5 billion, according to EDO Ad EnGage.

Total impressions rose 10% to 173.3 billion.

NBC is estimated to have pulled in $949.3 million in national TV ad sales, followed by CBS with $908.7 million; Fox at $886.3 million; and ABC/ESPN with $729.7 million.

Top brand spenders for NBC include Toyota (67 airings, $47.1 million); Hyundai (76 airings, $42.2 million); Walmart (53 airings, $30.9 million); Geico (40 airings, $29.8 million); and Chevrolet (36 airings, $27.4 million).

For CBS, the top brand spenders include Geico (73 airings, $30.8 million); State Farm (67 airings, $25.2 million); FanDuel (56 airings $21.7 million); Ford Motor (45 airings, $18.2 million); and Honda Motor (36 airings $17.9 million).

Fox's top brand spenders include Geico (65 airings, $29.3 million); GMC (57 airings, $26.8 million); Honda Motor (43 airings, $22.6 million); Chervolet (36 airings, $18.5 million); and  T-Mobile (54 airings, $18.4 million).

Top brand spenders for ABC are Progressive Insurance (41 airings, $22.5 million); Capital One (28 airings, $14.9 million); Geico (22 airings, $12.2 million); Allstate (22 airings, $11.5 million); and Burger King (35 airings, $9.3 million.

And top spenders on ESPN include Progressive Insurance (30 airings, $12.9 million); Capital One (22 airings, $8.5 million); Geico (13 airings, $5.8 million); Allstate (13 airings, $5.6 million); and Burger King (23 airings, $4.9 million