The Super Bowl has long stood as advertising’s Mount Everest—a summit reserved for deep-pocketed corporate giants willing to spend upward of $7 million for thirty seconds of airtime. But as the National Football League’s championship game splits across traditional broadcast and streaming platforms, a seismic shift is creating unprecedented opportunities for smaller brands that previously could only dream of Big Game exposure.

For Super Bowl LIX, CNBC reports that NBC and its streaming platform Peacock are offering streaming-only advertising inventory at significantly reduced rates compared to the linear broadcast spots. This bifurcated approach represents the most dramatic transformation in Super Bowl advertising since the game became America’s unofficial national holiday, fundamentally altering who can afford to play in the biggest marketing arena of the year.

The economics are striking. While traditional broadcast spots for the 2025 Super Bowl commanded prices exceeding $7 million for 30 seconds, streaming-only placements are being offered at roughly 60-70% of that cost, according to media buyers familiar with the negotiations. This pricing differential has opened doors for direct-to-consumer brands, regional companies, and venture-backed startups that have built substantial followings but lack the resources to compete with automotive manufacturers and beer conglomerates for broadcast inventory.

The Streaming Audience Comes of Age

The strategic rationale behind this two-tiered system extends beyond simple inventory management. Streaming viewership for major sporting events has reached critical mass, with Super Bowl LVIII drawing approximately 7 million viewers on Paramount+, representing nearly 7% of the total audience. Industry analysts project that streaming’s share could reach 15-20% for this year’s game, creating an audience pool larger than many primetime network programs command on their best nights.

“We’re witnessing the maturation of streaming as a premium advertising platform,” explained Mark Marshall, Chief Revenue Officer at NBCUniversal, in comments to Ad Age. “The streaming audience skews younger, is highly engaged, and represents exactly the demographic many emerging brands are trying to reach. It’s not a consolation prize—it’s a strategic advantage.”

The demographic composition of streaming viewers differs markedly from traditional broadcast audiences. Data from Nielsen indicates that streaming Super Bowl viewers are 12 years younger on average, with household incomes 18% higher than their linear counterparts. They’re also more likely to be cord-cutters who deliberately choose streaming services, suggesting higher engagement levels and potentially greater receptivity to advertising messages.

Small Brands Seize Their Moment

Several emerging companies are capitalizing on this opportunity with creative approaches that would have been financially impossible in previous years. Athletic Greens, the nutritional supplement company that has built a following through podcast advertising, secured a streaming-only spot for an estimated $4.2 million—still a substantial investment, but one that represents a manageable percentage of their annual marketing budget rather than an all-or-nothing gamble.

“For years, Super Bowl advertising was simply off the table for us,” said Kat Cole, CEO of Athletic Greens, in an interview with Marketing Dive. “The streaming-only option changes the calculation entirely. We’re reaching millions of highly qualified potential customers at a CPM that actually makes sense for our business model.”

The ripple effects extend beyond individual brand decisions. Advertising agencies that specialize in direct-to-consumer and digital-native brands are experiencing unprecedented demand for Super Bowl creative services. Several boutique agencies report that they’re producing Big Game spots for the first time in their histories, working with clients ranging from meal kit services to fintech startups to sustainable fashion brands.

Production Values Meet Budget Realities

The democratization of Super Bowl advertising access has also sparked innovation in commercial production. While legacy brands typically invest $2-3 million in production costs alone—hiring A-list directors, celebrities, and special effects houses—streaming-only advertisers are taking different approaches that maximize creative impact while managing costs.

Some brands are leaning into user-generated content aesthetics that resonate with younger audiences, while others are partnering with social media influencers who bring built-in audiences and authentic credibility. Liquid Death, the canned water brand known for irreverent marketing, is producing its streaming-only spot entirely with its in-house creative team, a strategy the company says maintains brand authenticity while keeping production costs under $500,000.

“The traditional Super Bowl playbook assumed you needed celebrity cameos and Hollywood production values to break through,” noted Sarah Hofstetter, President of Profitero, speaking to Forbes. “But streaming audiences—particularly younger viewers—often respond better to content that feels native to digital platforms. Smart brands are recognizing that different doesn’t mean inferior.”

Measurement and Attribution Advantages

Beyond cost considerations, streaming-only placements offer measurement capabilities that traditional broadcast spots cannot match. Advertisers can track viewer engagement in real-time, measure completion rates, and even attribute downstream conversions with precision that would be impossible with linear television. For performance-marketing-oriented brands accustomed to digital advertising’s granular analytics, these capabilities represent a significant advantage.

Peacock’s advertising technology allows for dynamic ad insertion based on viewer data, meaning that streaming-only advertisers can potentially serve different creative variations to different audience segments during the same game. A fitness brand might show one message to viewers who have previously watched workout content on the platform and a different message to sports fans with no prior fitness content engagement.

“The measurement infrastructure that exists in streaming completely changes the ROI equation,” explained David Cohen, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, in comments to Adweek. “Brands can see exactly how many people watched their spot, for how long, and what actions they took afterward. That level of accountability makes the investment far less speculative than traditional Super Bowl advertising has been.”

Network Strategy and Inventory Management

From NBC’s perspective, the streaming-only inventory serves multiple strategic objectives beyond simply maximizing revenue. By offering differentiated pricing, the network can fill advertising slots that might otherwise go unsold while simultaneously building relationships with emerging brands that could become major broadcast advertisers in future years as they grow.

The approach also allows NBC to test new advertising formats and technologies in a high-profile environment without disrupting the traditional broadcast experience. Interactive advertisements, shoppable video units, and extended-length spots that would be impractical on linear television can all be deployed in the streaming environment, providing valuable data on viewer preferences and engagement patterns.

Industry observers note that this strategy mirrors broader trends in television advertising, where networks are increasingly managing multiple distribution channels with distinct advertising propositions. “What we’re seeing with the Super Bowl is a microcosm of the entire television industry’s evolution,” said Brian Wieser, Principal at Madison and Wall, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter. “Fragmentation creates complexity, but it also creates opportunities for more sophisticated matching between advertisers and audiences.”

Competitive Dynamics and Market Response

The success of NBC’s streaming-only advertising approach is already influencing competitor strategies for future Super Bowl broadcasts. CBS, which will air the 2026 game, has indicated it plans to offer similar streaming-exclusive inventory on Paramount+, while Amazon’s Thursday Night Football package has demonstrated robust demand for streaming-only sports advertising throughout the regular season.

Traditional Super Bowl advertisers are taking notice as well, with several major brands reportedly considering splitting their investments between broadcast and streaming-only spots to maximize reach across both audience segments. Anheuser-Busch, historically one of the game’s biggest advertisers, has explored running different creative in streaming versus broadcast, effectively treating them as distinct media buys rather than a single unified campaign.

The implications extend beyond the Super Bowl itself. As streaming continues gaining audience share for major sporting events, the precedent established by differentiated pricing and inventory could reshape sports advertising broadly. The NBA, MLB, and college football playoffs are all watching closely to understand how this model performs and whether it can be replicated for their marquee events.

Challenges and Considerations for Emerging Advertisers

Despite the opportunities, streaming-only Super Bowl advertising presents distinct challenges that smaller brands must navigate carefully. The fragmented viewing environment means that a streaming-only spot won’t achieve the cultural penetration of a broadcast advertisement that reaches 100+ million viewers simultaneously. Water cooler conversations—or their modern social media equivalents—tend to coalesce around broadcast spots that the vast majority of viewers saw.

Additionally, while streaming-only spots cost less than broadcast inventory, they still represent substantial investments for most emerging brands. A $4 million advertising commitment requires significant supporting infrastructure, from sufficient inventory to meet potential demand spikes to customer service capacity to handle inquiry volume to digital marketing systems capable of capturing and converting the attention generated.

“There’s a reason Super Bowl advertising has traditionally been reserved for established brands,” cautioned Allen Adamson, Co-Founder of Metaforce, in an interview with Business Insider. “The game generates massive awareness, but converting that awareness into sustainable business growth requires operational readiness that many smaller companies underestimate. The advertising is just the beginning.”

Future Implications for Sports and Advertising

Looking ahead, the streaming-only Super Bowl advertising model appears likely to expand rather than contract. As streaming’s share of total viewership continues growing—some projections suggest it could reach 30-40% within five years—the streaming-only inventory will become increasingly valuable and potentially command pricing closer to broadcast rates. Early movers who establish Super Bowl advertising presences now may be securing advantageous positions before the market fully matures.

The model also raises intriguing questions about the future structure of major sporting events themselves. Could leagues eventually offer streaming-exclusive games with entirely different advertising ecosystems? Might we see tiered Super Bowl broadcasts, with premium streaming feeds offering ad-free experiences while advertiser-supported streams subsidize lower subscription costs? The technological infrastructure to support such models already exists; the question is whether audience demand and advertiser interest will align to make them viable.

For now, the immediate impact is clear: the Super Bowl’s advertising playing field is more accessible than it has been in decades. Brands that previously could only watch from the sidelines are suiting up and taking the field, armed with creative ideas, targeted messages, and the conviction that streaming audiences represent their best opportunity to make a mark on advertising’s biggest stage. Whether this democratization produces the next generation of iconic Super Bowl advertisements remains to be seen, but the opportunity itself represents a fundamental shift in how America’s biggest marketing moment operates—and who gets to participate in it.