Fox, the broadcaster of this year’s Super Bowl matchup, originally sought about $7 million for 30 seconds of ad time during the game, the highest-rated event in the United States.

The cost for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial has hit new heights, with ads being sold for about $8 million in the weeks leading up to the game,

The Super Bowl is a hot ticket for advertisers because the live viewing audience is so large. Last year, an estimated 123.7 million viewers tuned into the game, according to Nielsen. Evans said the mix of ad categories for the most part includes the usual suspects: beverages,