Report reveals NBC's asking price for Super Bowl LX commercials

Even with a $1M discount, the real cost of making and airing a Super Bowl commercial is a lot pricier.

Fast Company's Jeff Beer broke down the process, citing sources within companies hired to make ads for this year's big game.

Hiring ad agencies to create the idea — yes, just the idea — for a commercial can cost between $3M-6M alone. Then comes the production of said ad, which can average between $3M-4M, on top of post-production ($1M average cost).

That's just the logistical side of things. Don't forget who appears in a Super Bowl commercial tends to get the most attention these days.

The amount paid to well-known celebrities to be in a company's ad can vary, but Beer's sources indicated that averages between $3.5-5M — and that's just for a single cameo. Add in music licensing ($1M-3M), and the cost of the ad's short window on television seems like petty change.

That all adds together for a whopping $27M.

But wait, there's more. In the digital and social media age, commercials don't just live on television anymore.

That (hopefully) viral ad will be spotted on X, Instagram, Facebook and just about any website that will host it, ultimately adding between $4-10M to the final cost, according to Beer.

That's not even accounting for the extra $8M FOX required advertisers to spend throughout the season leading up to the Super Bowl (h/t Adweek's Mark Stenberg).

So, what's the grand total? A 30-second Super Bowl ad could cost a company roughly $40M.

That seems ridiculous, even for multi-billion dollar corporations, considering some Super Bowl ads have been duds in recent years.