Report: ESPN Sets Huge Super Bowl Ad Cost Amid NFL’s Staggering Demands

The National Football League has made headlines in recent months for going back to its broadcasting partners with staggering demands for the future rights to games. That seems to be influencing what it will cost to run a 30-second commercial in Super Bowl LXI.

According to Brian Steinberg of Variety.com, Disney has informed advertisers that they should pay $10 million for a 30-second ad block during Super Bowl LXI next year. However, advertisers are reportedly pushing back on the price.

Related: NBC Could Lose Rights to Sunday Night Football

Of note, per Steinberg, Disney has not seemed to be as effective in selling Super Bowl advertising spots this time of year as Fox and NBC have. Previously, other networks had sold 40 to 60 percent of their 30-second spots by May ahead of the Super Bowl; Disney has reportedly “not made similar progress” in said efforts.

All of this comes at a time when Disney joins Fox, NBC and CBS in working to negotiate new TV rights contracts with the NFL, thanks to increased interest from Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Google’s YouTube. Negotiations between the two sides haven’t gone well.

Alexander Sherman of CNBC previousl reported that networks are “more comfortable” paying a rights fee increase of about 25 percent from the current deal. However, the NFL is pushing hard for a 100 percent increase.

As all of this is going on, the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the NFL and whether it is using “anticompetitive tactics” to harm consumers and make games less accessible and affordable to watch.

It certainly seems like advertisers are taking the same stance in negotiations with Disney as the company is in its contract talks with the NFL. If history is any guide, deals will be reached with the costs of it passed down to consumers.