Trump, Bloomberg campaigns set to spend millions to air ads during Super Bowl
The Super Bowl will not be devoid of politics — at least during the commercial breaks.
President Donald Trump and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaigns plan to spend $10 million each on 60-second ads during the highly-watched football game, sources with both campaigns tell CNN.
Trump’s ad, according to a campaign aide, is expected to run early in the game. The campaign reserved the ad time in December and the spot has already been paid for, the aide added.
Bloomberg, after Trump’s plans to run an ad during the Super Bowl were reported on last year, decided that he would also air a spot during the February 2 game, a spokesperson for the former New York Mayor told CNN.
Neither campaign said exactly how much they paid for their ad, but Fox executives have said that they hope a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl would cost more than $5 million, meaning a 60-second spot could cost each campaign upwards of $10 million. The Bloomberg spokesperson said that the presidential campaign would pay “market rate” for the coveted ad time.
The ads highlight how having a sizable campaign war chest — Trump from money raised and Bloomberg from personal funds he has poured into his campaign — makes getting your message in front of millions of Americans easier.
And that is all part of Bloomberg’s strategy: By spending millions and largely ignoring the first four nominating states, the former New York mayor is looking to position himself as a candidate running against Trump, not necessarily the other Democrats vying to take on the Republican president.
“The biggest point is getting under Trump’s skin,” said Michael Frazier, a Bloomberg campaign spokesman. “We have the means to raise a national campaign unlike any other candidate.”
Bloomberg’s ad will be a new spot, said the spokesperson, not one of the ads that have blanketed the airwaves ever since Bloomberg launched his late-entry presidential campaign in 2019. The ad will focus on opposing Trump, not highlighting the former mayor’s biography, the spokesperson added.
Bloomberg has — by far — been the most prolific spender on television ads, according to media tracker Kantar Media/CMAG. The former New York Mayor, to date, has spent nearly $133 million on television ads since he entered the race in November — millions more than any other presidential campaign.
Trump’s campaign, by comparison, has only spent $7.3 million, according to the media tracker.
This will not be the first time Trump airs an ad during a major sporting event. The president’s campaign aired a 30-second ad during Game 7 of the World Series in 2019, running a spot that touts Trump as “changing” Washington.
