During the Super Bowl, Nike and Pepsi were the top brands in nontraditional media exposure.

• During the 2022 Super Bowl, Nike, Pepsi, and Bose performed exceptionally well in a crucial business metric, as per early in-game media valuations obtained by CNBC.
• During Super Bowl 56, the logos of various brands received extensive media coverage, resulting in millions of dollars in exposure, according to the data.
• Hive, a software company, has measured the last four Super Bowls and shared its report with CNBC shortly after the game.

The Los Angeles Rams won their second Super Bowl in franchise history, beating the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Meanwhile, NFL sponsors Nike, Pepsi, and Bose also experienced success, according to early in-game media valuations seen by CNBC.

During Super Bowl 56, Hive, a San Francisco-based software company, in collaboration with Elevate, a sports consultancy firm, found that these brands' logos received millions of dollars in media exposure.

In-game exposure for sponsored brands during the 2020 game was $143 million, up slightly from $169 million during the 2021 Super Bowl, and $170 million in 2021, according to the report.

During Super Bowl 56, brands received less than 75 minutes of on-screen time, compared to 104 minutes in 2021. This decrease was partly due to the lifting of pandemic restrictions for this year's game.

The software company has been using its artificial intelligence platform to track media sponsorships during the big game for four consecutive years. As in-content exposure becomes increasingly popular among sports leagues seeking to boost revenue, the company's Mensio software offers brand-exposure data beyond traditional commercials for live sporting events.

Nielsen has been the standard for measuring traditional commercials, while Hive sees itself as the gold standard for measuring in-content brand exposure with no currency available today, according to Dan Calpin, Hive president, who shared this with CNBC.

Increasing in-game value

During Super Bowl 56, Hive's 2022 report featured both visual and verbal exposures, with the brand scoring 46 minutes of on-screen time. Meanwhile, Bose, one of the National Football League's top sideline sponsors, had its logo appear for eight minutes.

According to Hive's data, Pepsi had double exposure with its brands during the halftime show featuring Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The beverage maker's combined brands, including Gatorade, were on the screen for roughly nine minutes and its brand was mentioned a game-high 11 times.

The Rams, New Era, and agreed to a $625 million naming rights deal, with New Era having roughly one minute of in-game exposure valued at $3.5 million.

Calpin stated that while there is a lot of discussion and watercooler talk about the commercials, some of the most exposed brands may not have aired any commercials, and people were exposed to them for several minutes during the game.

Despite not purchasing traditional commercials, individuals are forming positive associations with Nike, Gatorade, SoFi, and Pepsi.

In 2018, the platform Mensio was created to record every second of televised content and track logo exposure in postgame highlights and social media videos. Calpin stated that Hive determines brand valuation using metrics such as duration and the quality and size of logos on the screen.

During the 2022 Super Bowl, Hive identified company logos on various items such as jerseys, bottles, coolers, towels, tablets, carts, headphones, and in-stadium/arena signage. Calpin stated that every 150 seconds of average in-game exposure is equivalent to the value of a 30-second commercial.

The cost of Super Bowl 56 commercials was around $6.5 million, with some brands shelling out a record-breaking $7 million for a 30-second ad. It is predicted that the game's revenue will exceed $545 million, surpassing the amount generated the previous year.

Calpin stated that commercial ratings only provide a partial view of the story since they focus on measuring the viewership of traditional ads, which are usually 15 or 30 seconds long, but do not take into account the brands that were exposed within the content itself.

A changing landscape

Al Guido, the San Francisco 49ers president, used Hive's Super Bowl data to verify his valuation estimations.

Thomas Bernstein, executive vice president of insights at Elevate, stated that Hive's data helps companies achieve a better "return on objectives and their return on investment" and "transform data into insights, sales, and partnerships."

According to PitchBook, Hive is worth $2 billion. Some of its revenue comes from licensing software to companies such as , , and the top NFL sponsor. Additionally, Hive has agreements with media-measurement companies Comscore and Octagon, and advertising firm IPG.

Hive aims to become the industry-accepted leader in "in-content" measurement, as Nielsen's No. 1 TV-measurement position is at risk.

In 2017, the National Basketball Association launched a new advertising program featuring nontraditional patches on NBA uniforms. These patches showcase a company's logo during games. Additionally, the league is currently in the early stages of implementing virtual floor ads, which are displayed on the court throughout NBA games.

Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and tech companies are all utilizing virtual ads, helmet and jersey patches, and in-content exposure to promote their products. Apple, for instance, showcases its products in entertainment shows like "Ted Lasso," which streams on Apple TV+.

The importance of branded content will continue to rise as more people shift their video viewing to platforms with little or no ads, such as Netflix and HBO Max, according to Calpin.

The 2022 Super Bowl viewership metrics will be released this week, and this information will enhance the media value surrounding the game. PredictHQ, a demand-intelligence company, forecasted that the game would attract 117 million viewers, breaking the previous record.

Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.