Marketing Localization and the Big Game

The final game of the American football season, the “Big Game,” is one of the most-watched annual sporting events worldwide. In any given year, it commands 100 million-plus viewers. But not everyone watches for the joy of sport: The ads that run during commercial breaks have become one of the event’s biggest attractions — and marketing localization opportunities.

The stakes for brands seeking to capture that audience are higher than ever. Why? A 30-second ad spot during the U.S. broadcast costs around $7 million in 2025.

While most viewers still reside in North America, the game’s popularity has steadily risen globally. There are currently around 80 countries with federations relating to American football. These include:

• Germany
• China
• South Africa

Broadcasts of the 2025 Big Game will be done in 180 countries and 25 different languages. This cultural-linguistic diversity offers brands opportunities for a worldwide audience and international marketing during the uniquely American event.

To make an impact on international viewers, brands must adapt ads through a process called “advertising localization.” Although the term localization is sometimes used interchangeably with translation, translating copy is only part of it. Ad localization service goes beyond translation. It gives ads a local look and feel by ensuring these elements match cultural norms:

• Language
• Narratives
• Imagery

This article will explore how brands can use global marketing services to transform traditionally U.S.-focused ads for the big game into messaging that resonates with audiences worldwide.

What Is the Big Game?

The Big Game has been the final game of the football season since 1966. The first championship was held on January 15, 1967, in Los Angeles, California. That broadcast reached roughly 51 million viewers. The 30-minute halftime show featured a local college marching band, and a 30-second ad spot that cost around $42,000. That’s $360,000 in today’s dollars when adjusted for inflation.

Today, popular musicians perform pre-game ceremonies and halftime shows. Ads, which have become part of the spectacle, cost around seven million dollars to air.

Ads During the Big Game: A Brief History

So, how did ads airing during the Big Game reach iconic status? It all started in the 1970s. As viewership rose, brands began taking more significant risks. In 1972, Coca-Cola premiered the memorable “Hilltop” commercial, and Noxzema featured American football legend Joe Namath and actress Farrah Fawcett in its ad.

However, it wasn’t until the 1980s that advertising solidified its place during the event. In 1984, Apple released an ad unlike any other to announce the launch of its new personal computer model. Darker in tone than previous ads, it referenced the plot of George Orwell’s novel 1984. It not only garnered massive media attention, but also launched a new era of advertising creativity.

Brands such as Anheuser Busch began to make the Big Game the centerpiece of their marketing. Rivalries between competitors such as Budweiser and Miller, or Coca-Cola and Pepsi, also played out on air.

By the 1990s, the ads became television events unto themselves. Brands vied to create the best ad of the night. Creative storytelling and celebrity endorsements helped propel them into the collective American consciousness.

Big ideas required big expenses. Spending rose to $1 million per spot in 1995, as the event became one of the few times of year when people wanted to watch ads.

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, brands began featuring deeper, more emotional storylines, a trend that continues. Now, ads range from humorous to serious — with brands touching on topics such as immigration and gender inequality.

The Big Game and International Expansion

As American football’s worldwide audience grows, the Big Game offers brands the opportunity to launch big-budget ad campaigns in more countries. Although the number of international viewers varies widely by location, here’s a look at a few of the biggest markets.

Canada

The Big Game has aired in Canada on both English and French language networks since 1967. Viewership before the 2000s is challenging to accurately gauge, but has increased significantly since 2010. In 2024, over 10 million Canadians watched at least part of the event. It also attracted significant engagement across streaming platforms.

China

In 2024, over six million people in China watched the game across both digital and TV platforms. Its popularity in the country has grown by more than 40% since 2022.

Mexico

In Mexico, 24.1 million people watched the 2024 championship game.

Germany

In Germany, 2.12 million viewers watched the final game of the 2024 season.

How to Localize Ads for the Big Game

Multimedia localization is one of the best ways to adapt ads for another market. However, the types of ads airing during the Big Game can be difficult to translate conceptually outside of the United States. That’s due to the long-standing trend of brands creating one of two types of commercials: ones that rely on emotional narratives, and ones that use U.S.-style humor. Below are examples of each:

Given the challenges, here’s how to localize an ad for the Big Game —without sacrificing creativity. Here are six tips:

1. Use internationalization to plan for a global audience. Internationalization involves planning and designing an ad that can launch in multiple countries — with minimal changes.

2. Create connections to the local audience. Although the ad concept should have a broad appeal, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t incorporate elements that conform to the local culture. Transcreation, or creative translation of dialog, can help you achieve this effect without re-filming for another market.

3. Be flexible with content. Ad copy may require significant changes to draw out desired emotional responses. This flexibility can be the difference between success and failure.

4. Pay attention to taboos in the target market. Offending potential buyers is too costly.

5. Work with local experts to ensure quality. Localization experts who live in the target country can help evaluate content and adapt it in ways that truly move those audiences.

6. Last but not least, remember your audience is everyone. In the U.S., people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds watch the Big Game. It’s a time of celebration. Families and friends come together, hosting parties in their homes and meeting up in sports bars.

Diversity and Inclusion in Advertising

Because the Big Game is known for unifying everyone, brands often use the event as an opportunity to demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion. That can involve tying these themes into big budget ads. While this is a noble goal, it adds another layer of complexity for localizing for international audiences. For example, extra care would be required to translate gender-neutral ad copy in English into a grammatically gendered language, such as Spanish.

Fortunately, our Smart Content™ tool ensures you use inclusive language in every market. Our proprietary technology leverages machine learning to flag offensive terms, non-inclusive terminology, and gender bias to help you remove problematic language. It also detects inoffensive words used in an insulting way. You’ll never have to worry if your copy is welcoming in every language you support.

Get in touch

As the Big Game grows in popularity, more brands will launch international campaigns to reach new audiences. However, you need a creative, inclusive localization strategy that appeals to local viewers to succeed. Lionbridge content transformation services help you tackle one of the biggest advertising events of the year. Get in touch today to discuss how Lionbridge’s multilingual content creation services can help you localize your upcoming ad campaigns.