Disney Wants Up to $12 Million Per Super Bowl Ad After Selling Out
Disney has sold out its Super Bowl commercials. It still wants up to $12 million per slot.
That is the price Disney is now seeking for a 30-second spot in its 2027 Super Bowl telecast, plus a matching spend on other Disney ad time, according to Variety reporting on 5 October 2026. Earlier in 2026, the company had pressed advertisers for $10 million for the same 30 seconds. Disney had declared in July that all of its commercial inventory — the ad slots available to sell — was sold out.
So why keep selling? Disney is building a waiting list of advertisers ready to step in if a current sponsor asks for relief from its commitment. That happens. State Farm asked Fox to be released from its commercials deal for Super Bowl LIX, citing disruption from the California wildfires. Disney has not won permission from the NFL to expand the number of commercials in the game, so it cannot simply create more slots.
The price sets a new high for television’s priciest night. Fox had sought at least $7 million for a 30-second commercial in Super Bowl LIX. For Super Bowl 60, NBC sold out at an average of $8 million per 30-second spot, with as many as 10 slots going for more than $10 million each, according to CNBC.
The 2027 game matters to Disney for another reason. It will be the first time in nearly two decades that one of its properties has shown the Big Game. The plan is to air two versions: a traditional telecast for ABC and ESPN, and a tongue-in-cheek presentation with Peyton and Eli Manning. There will also be two different Spanish-language telecasts across ESPN and Univision.
The Super Bowl sale sits inside a strong year for Disney’s ad business. Disney Advertising closed its 2026-2027 upfront — the annual advance sale when networks lock in most of the season’s ad money — with total volume commitments up double digits on last year, according to MediaPost. The company had teased 2027 Super Bowl commercials as part of its 12 May upfront showcase. It also sold out its Oscars commercial inventory in both 2025 and 2026, after seeking $1.7 million to $2.3 million per spot for the 2025 ceremony.
What makes this stand out is the logic. Sold out does not mean finished. With demand still rising, Disney is maximising the value of every break before kickoff.
