80 percent of ad inventory for Super Bowl XLIII, which takes place in Tampa Bay, FL on February 1 of next year, has already been sold, reports NBC's Seth Winter, VP of Sports and Olympics sales and marketing.

At the going rate per :30 of $3 million, "about a dozen or so advertisers" have signed on thus far, he said. Sales so far have been dominated by automotive marketers and movie studios. Despite new ownership, Anheuser-Busch also purchased ad time, as did PepsiCo.

Spots for this year's Super Bowl XLII cost $2.7 million per :30.

Winter said the cost of ad inventory would rise as the February date draws near. "Why wouldn't you raise your price? Why would you lower it [as the event approaches]? I don't quite understand that theory of inventory," he remarked to Advertising Age.