Super Bowl Broadcast Includes Brief Blackout By Mistake

During what was supposed to be a commercial break in the second quarter, Super Bowl LII's broadcast had an accidental blackout that lasted roughly 30 seconds.

The blackout happened after the game went to break following Stephen Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal cut the Eagles' lead to 15-6.

Predictably, people were pretty surprised to see such a mistake during a broadcast as carefully planned as the Super Bowl's.

NBC black screen of Super Bowl ad slot was for 29 seconds. Happened in many markets where local spot was supposed to be inserted. Here’s what it looked like (H/T @ApexMGAnalytics) pic.twitter.com/ItDQzZ5sbt
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 5, 2018

Did everyone experience that blackout or was it just me
— Jeremy Woo (@JeremyWoo) February 5, 2018

Whoa. That blackout caused a lot of people to scream bad words in a dark room somewhere.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) February 5, 2018

Which advertiser is going to jump on that TV blackout first? #SuperBowl
— Ad Age (@adage) February 5, 2018

Raise your hand if you thought "Damnit did I pay my bill?" 🙋🏼‍♂️😬 #SuperBowlLI #Blackout
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) February 5, 2018

Which creative director gets to put that blackout in his or her book?
— AgencySpy (@AgencySpy) February 5, 2018

Per ESPN's Darren Rovell, the blackout happened in multiple markets where a local commercial was supposed to play. An NBC spokesperson said the cause was a brief equipment failure and that no game or commercial time was missed.

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For a national ad, a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl costs more than $5 million. It's certainly less for a local commercial—less eyes means less dollars—but that's still a very costly mistake.