Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are buying last-minute ads during Game 7 of the World Series.
The Trump campaign has booked three commercial spots on the nationwide broadcast of Wednesday night’s Cubs-Indians matchup, a campaign spokesman said.
And Clinton’s campaign has booked four spots, according to a source at Fox, the network broadcasting the game.
The details are subject to change right up until air time. And not all ad time is created equal. Only one of Trump’s spots is “fixed,” or guaranteed to run at a specific time during the game. The other two spots will be “floating.”
Clinton’s spots are also “floating,” the Fox source said. While the spots aren’t guaranteed to air at specific times, the campaign ad spots have been booked and the network will strive to fit them all in.
The market price for an ad during Game 7 exceeds $500,000, but the campaigns will be paying less. That is because broadcasters are legally required to give candidates the “lowest unit rate” for ad time in the weeks before an election.
One thing is clear: Both campaigns recognize that Game 7 represents the greatest single collection of eyeballs between now and Election Day.
The World Series has been the most-watched series on TV for the past week, even when the prospect of a historic Game 7 looked out of reach.
Fox Sports ad sales chief Neil Mulcahy’s phone “has been ringing off the hook” ever since the Cubs advanced to the World Series, Advertising Age reported last week.
During Game 6 on Tuesday night, the Clinton campaign had two national ads. Trump didn’t have any, but the National Rifle Association, which has endorsed Trump, did have one.
The Cubs’ comeback against the Indians rewarded Fox with a seventh prime time broadcast. Advertisers started calling while Game 6 was still in progress.
Along with the campaigns, the NRA will also have an ad on Wednesday night, the Fox source said.
Fox expects Game 7 to be the network’s most-watched MLB game in 15 years. Media observers are predicting a ballpark audience of about 30 million viewers.