The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday it has sold out the commercial time for ESPN’s telecast of the 2027 Super Bowl, which airs on ABC Feb. 14.
Hugh Johnston, chief financial officer for Disney, announced the sellout on the company’s earnings call. In addition to ABC, the game from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will air on ESPN, and have an alternative ESPN feed hosted by Peyton and Eli Manning. The game will be streamed on the ESPN app and the NFL+ app.
ESPN, which has carried NFL games since 1987, has never produced a Super Bowl. ABC last aired the game in 2006, when the network had its own sports division.
The Super Bowl is perennially the most watched TV event of the year, bringing in a huge pot of revenue for the media company holding the rights. Fox said it took in more than $800 million across its platforms for the 2025 game that saw the Philadelphia Eagles win 40-22 over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Disney did not divulge a price for the commercial time, although reports said the company was seeking $10 million for a 30-second spot. NBC sold several commercials at that rate last year.
Johnston said Disney sold Super Bowl spots to 58 brands across 34 product categories, including financial services, candy, personal care and software. Nine of the brands are in the game for the first time.
As the rest of traditional TV has seen ratings diminish, the Super Bowl has remained resilient, setting a viewership record in 2025, with 127.7 million viewers watching on Fox and its streaming platform Tubi, according to Nielsen. Last season’s contest drew 125 million viewers on NBC, Telemundo and Peacock.
When ABC had Super Bowl XL in 2006, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks scored 90.7 million viewers. Nielsen did not include out-of-home viewing in its data at the time.
Live sports has become attractive to advertisers as it is one of the few ways to reach a massive audience in real time.
