Mercedes, Coca-Cola, Best Buy All Headed to 2013 Super Bowl

When your name’s on the stadium, it might make sense for you to buy some ads in the game taking place there.

Mercedes-Benz, which appeared in the 2011 Super Bowl and then dropped the event from its marketing plans, will return to the Big Game in 2013, the automaker has confirmed. Super Bowl XLVII is set to be broadcast by CBS on Feb. 3 of next year from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

“It’s a big product year for us next year and the game will be played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, so all the planets are in alignment,” said Mercedes spokeswoman Donna Boland said.

Coca-Cola and Best Buy are both returning to the game, the marketers confirmed. Coca-Cola has purchased three 30-second spots. The three advertisers join Anheuser-Busch InBev, PepsiCo.’s Pepsi and Frito-Lay divisions, Audi of America, Hyundai/Kia, Cars.com and GoDaddy.com as advertisers who have confirmed their presence in next year’s gridiron contest.

CBS is still working to sell the last portion of inventory in the game. Executives told USA Today in September that the game was more than 90% sold and that only a small number of spots were left for purchase.

Advertisers have generally agreed to pay between $3.7 million and $3.8 million for in-game spots or for broader packages that include an appearance in the Super Bowl. Prices can vary depending on the marketer (Anheuser is famous for crafting multiyear deals that can render per-ad pricing discussions moot), the position of their ad in the game and the amount of inventory a sponsor decides to purchase.

NBC saw the average price rise to around $3.5 million for its broadcast of the Super Bowl earlier this year. An estimated 111.3 million people watched the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots, barely trumping the 111 million viewers who tuned in to see the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Fox the year before.