Why Super Bowl LVI is Being Called the "Crypto Bowl"

Super Bowl LVI has been dubbed the "Crypto Bowl," according to Fortune. The name, "Crypto Bowl," is a nod to the year 2000's "Dot-Com Bowl," in which 14 tech companies paid roughly $44M for Super Bowl ads just before the dot-com crash that wiped most of them out.

NBC, which will be broadcasting the Super Bowl, is expected to run 80-90 ads during the game. According to University of Delaware marketing professor John Antil, "five or six crypto companies will be featured in Super Bowl commercials this year." While this year's Super Bowl will certainly have a Crypto theme, it won't be quite as prominent as Tech was in the Dot-Com Bowl.

Companies expected to run ads include:

• Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), the most popular centralized exchange (CEX) with US customers
• FTX (FTT), a CEX open to US customers that also offers a native token
• Crypto.com (CRO), a CEX open to US customers that also offers a native token
• BitBuy (Canadian broadcast), a Canadian CEX

What’s more, Binance paid pro basketball player Jimmy Butler to tell investors to do their own research, and “learn crypto and trust yourself.” It's unclear if Binance will run a Super Bowl ad, or if the Jimmy Butler tweets constitute the CEX's Super Bowl advertising efforts.

Marketing analysts believe the Super Bowl will help crypto reach a more mainstream audience. The game is expected to draw around 100M viewers, with around 40M in the 18-49 age range that crypto companies are targeting. This year, NBC is charging $6.5-7M for a 30-second ad spot. The NFL is rumored to have capped the number of sportsbook ads that NBC could run during the Super Bowl; it’s possible the league placed a similar limit on the number of crypto ads in this year's broadcast.

Although it's difficult to find a direct connection between a Super Bowl ad and business success, Katie Thomas of the Kearney Consumer Institute believes this year's run of crypto ads could produce measurable growth in mainstream crypto adoption.