On February 12, 2023, more than 60k football fans will pack into State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, to experience Super Bowl LVII. For them, they’ll be up close and personal to football’s most exciting night, face-to-face with non-stop action. 

For the nearly 200mm people expected to tune in to the Big Game, there will be frequent stops in action—stops filled with ads from brands taking the opportunity to get their logo in front of a massive and engaged audience.

Last week, we looked at advertisers in automotive, media and entertainment, alcohol and tech to see how they’re approaching the Super Bowl this year. Here, we’re covering travel, gambling and betting apps, and cryptocurrency… oh, and avocados from Mexico, of course.

Travel

Advertisers for Booking.com, battling the post-pandemic rush with other travel advertisers, are set to return to the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. 

The company’s Super Bowl ad will feature a familiar jingle: “Booking.Yeah.” While the specifics of the ad, which will run for 30 seconds in the 4th quarter, remain a mystery, Arjan Dijk, Booking.com’s SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, did say, “We take our business very seriously, but not ourselves.” 

What does that mean? We’ll see. 

What we do know is that Booking.com’s hefty investment in the Super Bowl—a 30-second spot costs around $7mm—comes as travel advertisers reignite their strategies after the pandemic lull. In fact, according to our data, the advertisers driving the travel industry of late have increased spending by at least 30% YoY. 

Food

Advertisers for Avocados from Mexico will return for the 7th time. This year, they’ll showcase their take on one of Super Bowl LVI’s most popular ads from Coinbase. 

Of course, Avocados from Mexico’s twist will come fresh with a fitting flare: ChatGPT. 

According to Ivonne Kinser, the company’s VP of Marketing and Innovation, the ad will feature a QR code that’ll link to a landing page integrated with ChatGPT. From there, consumers can press a button to generate a Tweet. 

Advertisers will augment this uniquely future-facing ad with a billboard over Times Square, which will feature its own QR code. 

Avocado From Mexico’s push comes on the heels of a big advertising year. In 2022, advertisers increased their investment by 139% YoY. While TV (+80% YoY) and digital ad spend (+540% YoY) were up overall, broadcast and video ads saw the biggest bump, with both increasing by more than 1,000% YoY. 

Most of this investment went to NBC and YouTube (Society & Culture and Entertainment & Movies Channels). 

Gambling

Few things go together better than football and betting. Leading up to last year’s Super Bowl, 31.4mm Americans were expected to bet $7.6b on the game.

That said, advertisers for DraftKings are showing face again —this time with a 30-second ad featuring Kevin Hart. 

Advertisers for DraftKing, who have played a central role in the surge of ads from betting apps, maintain their fondness for traditional ad formats. Through the first nine months of the year, advertisers for DraftKings spent 58% of their budget on TV and print ads. 

FanDuel will also make their long-awaited debut this month. Say what you want about FanDuel’s absence when its competitors were shining bright, but the UK-based betting app hasn’t wasted any time making its presence felt. 

Rather than launch a “simple” Super Bowl ad, advertisers for FanDuel played the long game, launching a playoffs-long campaign. The blitz wraps up with Rob Gronkowski kicking a field goal to give fans who make a Super Bowl bet a chance to share $10mm. 

FanDuel’s out-of-the-box approach speaks to the company’s innovation and the lengths advertisers must go to stand out during the Super Bowl. While the build-up to Super Bowl LVII will soon come to an end, FanDuel’s strategy could add a page to other advertisers’ playbooks as they look to fight through the noise during next year’s Super Bowl in Paradise, Nevada.

Software vendor Workday will also make its Super Bowl debut following a year when it saw subscription revenue jump by more than 22%. 

Workaday’s advertisers also saw their budgets rise. In 2022, they increased spending on broadcast TV by more than 220%, with 50% of their ad spend going to 11 networks.

Crypto Advertisers Step Back

Coinbase caused a two-prong explosion last year when it ran its widely popular QR-based Super Bowl ad. The ad, nothing more than a QR code floating around TV screens, captivated the public but also crashed the company’s app. Twenty million visits to a landing page in a minute will do that. 

Don’t expect Coinbase, or any crypto advertiser, to make quite the same-sized splash this year—and you can thank FTX’s miraculous fall from grace for that. 

While crypto advertisers will remain at the Super Bowl, their presence won’t be felt. 

Major industry advertisers, including those from Coinbase, Crypto.com, Etoro, and FTX, kicked off the year on all cylinders, but spending dropped quickly. 

Advertisers for Crypto.com, for example, increased spending by 70% QoQ in Q1 to $32mm, thanks mainly to a big Super Bowl push. 

Following that surge, spending dropped. In Q2, Q3, and Q4, advertisers for Crypto.com decreased spending by 74%, 18%, and 68% QoQ, respectively. 

FTX followed a similar game plan. After spending jumped by 217% QoQ in Q1, significant QoQ reductions of 58%, 82%, and 88% followed for the next three quarters. 

Etoro and Coinbase were the only slight outliers, with both increasing their investments in Q4. Etoro did so by 66% QoQ, while Coinbase opted for a 23% QoQ jump. 

While the industry’s volatility (pun intended) has been enough to keep advertisers at arm’s length from the Super Bowl, Etoro and Coinbase’s late-year surge could point to a future that’ll see spending rise, especially if crypto prices favor the high-end of estimates. 

Advertisers Spend Millions for a Chance to Shine During the Super Bowl

How would you spend $7mm in 30 seconds? 

The options are endless, but for advertisers with deep pockets, including those for FanDuel, Booking.com, Workday, DraftKings, and Avocados from Mexico, the decision is easy: a Super Bowl ad. 

Time will tell if their investment pays off. 

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