A Running List of Early Season Football Ads

The NFL season kickoff is upon us, with the league’s ad power stronger than ever on digital and streaming channels as Super Bowl ads already score more than $8 million apiece.

How valuable are NFL broadcasts to ad buyers? Television data and analytics firm EDO estimated that the NFL brings in $5.2 billion in national TV ads and, during the 2024 season alone, hosted ads that were 19% more effective than the TV average during its regular season, 63% more effective during the playoffs, and 243% more compelling on Super Bowl Sunday. Broadcasters are so interested in adding the NFL to their playbooks that ESPN’s latest deal with the league included a stake in the media company, which may affect the league’s future media-rights deals and has competitors scrambling for other sports properties or seeking bundling agreements.

The NFL’s 550 regular-season brand advertisers in 2024 would’ve needed to run 23 ads on television just to have the impact of one NFL ad, per EDO. So, with that in mind, ADWEEK put together a list of brands that got a jump on the 2025 NFL season and put pressure on competitors with a well-timed play.