YouTube dials up another AdBlitz for Super Bowl LVII

YouTube is continuing its decade-long Super Bowl tradition. The platform has relaunched its AdBlitz platform, where it has collected commercials that will run on FOX’s Big Game broadcast on Sunday, February 12.

As of this post, eight ads from Super Bowl LVII are available on AdBlitz. That number is sure to increase as we move closer to the game. Some of the ads already have millions of views, thanks to a combination of paid and organic traffic. Snapchat‘s Super Bowl spot, titled “Wait’ll You See This,” has already surpassed 3.4 million views on YouTube. Its title references Snap’s filters, which are featured in the ad.

AdBlitz is the central hub for an initiative that brings massive viewership to YouTube each February. Back in 2017, the video site reported that a collection of 20 popular Super Bowl ads had driven 440 million hours of watch time across the platform.

As more Super Bowl ad viewership moves online, statistics like those are only getting larger. In its annual reintroduction of AdBlitz, YouTube cited a report from ComScore, which claimed that more viewers saw Super Bowl ads on YouTube than on TV in 2022. During last year’s Super Bowl Sunday, an Amazon ad got more than 65 million views thanks in large part to AdBlitz.

In addition to commercials, AdBlitz

also offers Super Bowl previews and links to brand channels. Overall, YouTube’s partnership with the NFL is as active as it’s ever been. Its homegrown creators are running Super Bowl ads of their own, and football highlights are becoming more visible as YouTube prepares to host the Sunday Ticket package next season.

“We’re excited to bring our Super Bowl campaign back to AdBlitz again this year as the program provides us with an innovative way to reach our current and next generation of fans,” said NFL Digital Media exec Blake Stuchin in a statement. “The NFL and YouTube partnership continues to grow and create new touchpoints for fans – from highlights every week of the season, to original shows like the Emmy-winning Game Day All-Access, to NFL Sunday Ticket coming exclusively to YouTube starting in the 2023 season.”

Thanks to AdBlitz, YouTube will be the source that gets cited in the ad roundups, best-in-show recaps, and statistical analyses that will go live after the Chiefs and Eagles leave the field. I want to close with my annual plea: Super Bowl ads are more fun if you let them surprise you during the game. But who am I kidding? AdBlitz is a cultural phenomenon, and it looks like it will stay relevant for all forseeable football seasons.