Football is back, and football still sells.
It sells because it gathers eyeballs and rating points like nothing else. On Thursday night, it will gather many millions around TV sets and the other devices through which Americans currently watch the country’s most popular sport.
As a result, advertisers are paying to attached their goods and services to the game.
“Tonight’s NFL Kickoff game is sold out, with revenue up double digits vs. 2019 and the average cost per 30-second spot near $900,000,” an NBC spokesperson said on Thursday.
That’s good news for the networks and for the league. It means that money will be made this season (economic struggles notwithstanding), and it means that the NFL will be able to generate the kind of payments it’s seeking in the next round of negotiations from all networks.