T-Mobile, Sprint to run ads during Super Bowl 51

Lost in the shuffle during the week was a brief announcement made by T-Mobile CEO John Legere on his Twitter account. It turns out that T-Mobile will shell out the big bucks to advertise during next week's Super Bowl game between New England and Atlanta. Last year, the carrier's Super Bowl ads starred Drake. For the 2014 game, you might recall that Tim Tebow (obviously the first name that comes to mind when you think smartphones) was the focus of the carrier's spots.

Fox is charging between $5 million and $5.5 million for a 30-second ad. Considering that approximately 115 million will be watching, the game gives carriers the opportunity to reach many potential new subscribers at one time. And T-Mobile isn't the only wireless operator to think so. Sprint has announced that it will be running an ad during the second quarter of the game. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure promises that it will be a real "cliffhanger." Claure didn't say whether the spot will star former Verizon pitchman Paul ("Can you hear me now?") Marcarelli, who has appeared in Sprint's recent commercials. One clue might have been contained in Claure's tweet about the Super Bowl ad which included the hashtag #CanYouHearThat?"

T-Mobile's Legere didn't give away any clue about who will star in the carrier's ads. Recent spots starred Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande.



source: @johnlegere, AdWeek