Super Bowl Sunday earns plenty of attention for the day’s game, which annually decides the NFL‘s champion. The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers battle it out for the Lombardi Trophy this year. The game’s commercials have gained perhaps an even larger popularity due to the many outside-the-box ideas they have put to use throughout the years.
One creative liberty advertisers are not allowed to take, though, is referring to the Super Bowl by name, leading to plenty of unique workarounds for referencing the game without calling it the “Super Bowl.”
Why Super Bowl Commercials Don’t Use the Game’s Name
Viewers have long noticed — and certainly will take note again this year — that advertisers during the Super Bowl, along with brands’ social media accounts and even radio programs, do not call the game by that name.
This has to do with the NFL’s trademark on “Super Bowl,” which it has held since 1969. Holding rights over the name means the league holds sole ability to either use it commercially itself or license other businesses and brands to use it themselves, typically for a price.
Licensing out the name to a variety of advertisers is a lucrative business for the NFL, bringing in millions of dollars in revenue for the league by offering exclusive partnerships and various other opportunities. Anheuser-Busch is one company that has taken advantage of this exclusive partnership, paying an estimated $250 million annually to be the league’s exclusive alcohol provider and often being the biggest Super Bowl advertiser.
Using the Super Bowl name for commercial purposes without authorization from the NFL is a slippery slope, one plenty of businesses have come under attack for throughout the years as the league fiercely defends its trademark. Events as small as a church watch party being branded as a Super Bowl party (with money charged for it) have come under fire.
It’s a strict policy the league says it must uphold to justify the large sums of money it charges sponsors to use the Super Bowl trademark.
Fear of retribution from the NFL has led some to go even further than they might truly need to go in avoiding use of the game’s name. Many have simply referred to the Super Bowl as “the Big Game,” while others have been more creative. Comedian Stephen Colbert, who hosts The Late Show, has built a tradition of referring to the game as the “Superb Owl” due to his networks hesitations at outright naming the Super Bowl.
KEEP READING: The Absurd Amount of Money That Super Bowl Commercials Cost in 2024
All of that to say, don’t be surprised when this year’s Super Bowl commercials find creative ways not to call “the Big Game” by its official name.
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