Latest / Influencer Marketing with Fexingo: Creators, Sponsorships, and Modern Endorsement Deals / How Influencers Are Buying Their Own TV Spots During Live Sports
Transcript
- Lucas: So it used to be that the pinnacle of influencer marketing was getting a brand to pay you enough to be in their Super Bowl commercial. Maybe you'd get a cameo, maybe a sponsored post timed to the game. Luna: Right, the whole 'I'm in a Super Bowl ad' flex. A big status signal. Lucas: Well, now some influencers are skipping the brand part entirely and just buying their own TV spots during live sports. Not a sponsorship. They're literally buying 30 seconds of airtime during an NBA game or an NFL Sunday afternoon broadcast. Luna: Wait — can they just do that? I thought TV ad inventory was locked up by big advertisers buying upfront in the spring. Lucas: Traditionally yes. But the landscape has shifted. The big TV networks now sell a chunk of their sports inventory programmatically — through automated exchanges, just like digital display ads. And the price points have come down enough that an individual creator can afford it. Luna: What are we talking price-wise? Because I assume a Super Bowl spot is still millions. Lucas: A national Super Bowl ad this year was about seven million for 30 seconds. But most influencers aren't buying national. They're buying local or regional spots. A local Super Bowl spot in a mid-size market? About a hundred grand. And for regular-season NBA or NFL games, you can get a 30-second regional spot for fifteen to fifty thousand dollars. If you're a creator with a few million followers and a product to sell, that math can work. Luna: And if these conversations have sparked something you've actually used or thought about trying — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Lucas: Yeah, honestly, it's the listener support that keeps this show ad-free and lets us dig into stuff like this. So thank you. Luna: Alright, back to the TV spot buying. I want to know a concrete example. Who's actually done this? Lucas: There's a fitness creator named Jake Benson — he has about 1.2 million followers on Instagram, runs a workout app called FitPulse Pro. He bought a 30-second regional spot during a late-season NBA game on a regional sports network. Cost him about $22,000. Luna: And what did the ad look like? Was it polished like a traditional commercial? Lucas: It was basically his Instagram content — him doing exercises, a shot of the app interface, a voiceover saying 'download FitPulse Pro.' No agency. He shot it on his iPhone in an afternoon. He ran the spot three times during that game. Luna: So total cost around sixty-six thousand for three slots. That's a big bet for an individual creator. Did it pay off? Lucas: He tracked it using a unique promo code and a dedicated landing page. He said the ad drove about 4,200 app downloads over the next week. That's a cost per install of about fifteen dollars and seventy cents. For a subscription app that's ten dollars a month, he estimated he'd break even on customer acquisition cost within about six to eight months. Luna: That's pretty decent. But the interesting part to me is the shift in mindset — instead of waiting for a brand to pay you, you're acting as your own media buyer. Lucas: Exactly. And it changes the relationship with the audience. When you're doing a brand deal, the audience knows it's paid. When you're buying your own ad, it's your own product, your own message, no middleman. Some creators say the conversion rates are actually higher because there's no skepticism about 'oh, they're just shilling for a brand.' Luna: That makes sense. But I imagine the risk is higher too. If you spend fifty grand on a spot and it flops, that's your money gone. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's why we're seeing a new kind of creator — one who thinks like a direct-response marketer. They're not just buying one spot and hoping. They're A/B testing different creative, buying on different networks, measuring attribution like a digital campaign. Luna: How are they getting access to the inventory? You mentioned programmatic exchanges — but is that something an individual can just log into? Lucas: Not quite. Most programmatic TV buying still goes through a demand-side platform, or DSP. Companies like The Trade Desk, Amazon's DSP, or even Google's Display & Video 360 now have connected TV inventory that includes live sports. A creator would work with a small agency or a media buying consultant who has access to those platforms. Some creators are even hiring fractional media buyers, just like some hire fractional CFOs. Luna: Fractional media buyer — that's a job title that didn't exist five years ago for influencers. Lucas: Right. And the networks are starting to notice. NBCUniversal and Fox have both launched self-serve ad platforms aimed at small businesses and creators. Fox's platform, called 'Fox Ads', lets you buy spots during FS1 sports programming with as little as five hundred dollars. Obviously at that price you're getting a late-night rerun, not a prime game slot. But the floor is lowering. Luna: Is there any data on how many influencers are actually doing this? Or is it still a fringe thing? Lucas: Still fringe, but growing. I saw a report from a firm called CreatorIQ that said about 3% of top-tier influencers — those with over a million followers — have bought some form of linear or connected TV ad in the past year. That's up from basically zero two years ago. And the number is higher among creators who sell their own products, like courses, apps, or merchandise. Luna: So it's not just about fame or brand building. It's direct response. They want a return on ad spend. Lucas: Exactly. And this is where I think the trend gets really interesting. Because historically, TV advertising was a brand-building channel — you couldn't track individual conversions. But with connected TV and attribution tools, you can now see if someone saw your ad on a big screen and then searched for your app on their phone. That's a game changer. Luna: So for a creator, the calculus isn't 'how many impressions did I get?' It's 'how many downloads did I get per dollar spent?' Lucas: Precisely. And that's forcing them to be much more disciplined about their creative. They can't just post a pretty photo. They need a clear call to action, a unique offer, a way to track. It's basically the same skill set as running a Facebook ad campaign, but on a bigger screen. Luna: I wonder if this will lead to a new type of influencer agency — one that specializes in TV media buying for creators. Lucas: It's already happening. There's a boutique agency called 'AirTime' that launched in January specifically to help creators buy TV spots. They have a minimum budget of twenty-five thousand dollars and they handle the creative, the media buying, and the attribution. They told me they've already worked with about 40 creators. Luna: So what's the next step? Super Bowl ads for creators? Lucas: Some are already talking about it. A local Super Bowl spot in a market like Kansas City or Buffalo is about a hundred thousand. For a creator with a big local following and a product that appeals to that market — say a restaurant app or a local event — it could make sense. But I think the bigger opportunity is in regular season sports, where the cost per thousand is much lower and you can test and iterate. Luna: It's almost like influencers are becoming their own media companies. Not just creating content, but buying distribution. Lucas: That's exactly the framework. They're no longer just relying on the algorithm to show their content. They're paying for guaranteed placement in a high-attention environment. And live sports is one of the last places where people watch ads live, not skipping them. Luna: Do you think this changes the relationship between creators and the platforms they rely on? Like Instagram or TikTok? Lucas: It could. If creators can buy TV ads and drive direct conversions, they become less dependent on platform algorithms for reach. That gives them more leverage. It also means they need different skills — media buying, attribution, negotiation. Not every creator will want to do that. But for the ones who do, it's a new level of independence. Luna: I keep coming back to the risk though. What about a creator who spends their savings on a TV spot and it bombs? There's no brand to fall back on. Lucas: That's the dark side. And I've heard of a few cases where it didn't work. A beauty creator bought a spot on a regional sports network during a hockey game — not great targeting for a makeup audience. She spent thirty thousand and got maybe a thousand website visits. It was a tough lesson. Luna: So the key is matching the audience to the product. A fitness app during an NBA game makes sense. A makeup tutorial during hockey — not so much. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where data becomes crucial. The smart creators are using audience intelligence tools to see which sports demographics align with their customer base. Some are even buying ads on niche sports — like a golf influencer buying a spot during a PGA Tour broadcast, or a cooking creator buying during a food network show that happens to air after a football game. Luna: It's essentially programmatic targeting applied to linear TV. Which is ironic because programmatic was supposed to kill linear TV. Lucas: Right. But linear TV — especially live sports — has proven resilient. And now it's becoming accessible to a new class of advertiser: the individual creator. It's a fascinating convergence. Luna: So what's the takeaway for a brand listening? If influencers are buying their own TV ads, does that change how brands should approach influencer partnerships? Lucas: I think it signals that top creators are becoming more sophisticated. If you're a brand and you want to partner with a creator who's already buying their own ads, you need to offer more than just a fee. You need to offer strategic value — maybe access to your own media buying discounts, or co-investment in a TV campaign. The relationship is shifting from 'sponsor and talent' to 'co-investors in media.' Luna: That's a big shift. And it probably raises the bar for what brands expect from creators too. Lucas: Absolutely. If a creator can show you their own TV ad performance data — cost per acquisition, return on ad spend — they're not just a content creator anymore. They're a marketing partner. And that changes the conversation entirely. Luna: So we might see more creators building 'media buying' into their pitch decks when they approach brands. Lucas: I think we're already seeing it. And for the brands that can handle that level of sophistication, it could mean more effective campaigns. For the ones that can't, they might get left behind. Luna: Alright, so to wrap up: influencers buying TV spots during live sports is a real, growing trend. It's driven by programmatic access, lower costs, and better attribution. It's risky but potentially rewarding. And it signals a new level of entrepreneurial maturity in the creator economy. Lucas: Exactly. And the next time you're watching an NBA game and you see a 30-second spot that looks like an Instagram story — that's not a brand deal. That's a creator going direct. Luna: Thanks Lucas. And thanks to everyone listening. We'll be back next time with another angle on how the creator economy is evolving.