If You Can't Find a Super Bowl TV Deal, Look for a 'Big Game' TV Instead

There's no official TV of the NFL, so retailers have to be creative when advertising Super Bowl TV sales

By James K. Willcox
Senior Home & Tech Editor

Updated January 24, 2017

men cheering as they watch american football

When the New England Patriots face off against the Atlanta Falcons at Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Feb. 5, it will be a classic contest of a Super Bowl champ (Tom Brady) vs. a Big Game neophyte (Matt Ryan).

Before then, any football fan shopping for a new TV will witness another kind of play-making, as retailers try to promote great prices without encroaching on a prized NFL trademark. Go looking for "Super Bowl TV" deals and you'll come up as short as the Cleveland Browns' playoff hopes.

Instead, try shopping for a "Big Game TV."

That's because retail ads and promotions can't legally use the phrase "Super Bowl"—or even "Super Sunday"—unless the TV maker has shelled out a ton of money to the NFL. As usual, no TV manufacturer ponied up the cash to be the "official" TV of the NFL this year.

And because the league has no interest in joining the makers of aspirin, escalators, and yo-yos, whose once valuable trademarks gradually became genericized, it vigorously polices the use of any language referring to the championship game.

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However, Super Bowl-oriented sale prices for TVs are some of the lowest you'll find all year. So what language should you look for?

This year Best Buy is telling website visitors to "score big" and to "bring your A-game to the big game." Walmart.com is advertising that it's "game time" and telling shoppers they should be "game ready" with a new TV. The retailer also says to get a "big screen for the big game."

Target is a bit more subtle this year, promising that you can "huddle up, party down" to score "game-changing" deals on TVs, and Crutchfield says you can "run up the score" by saving $1,000 on an LG OLED TV.

New York City-area electronics retailer PC Richard & Son has Samsung deals for the "football fanatic," plus "game day ready" small appliances. The retailer backs its sales with a "game day price guarantee."

Warehouse clubs are also getting into the act, with both Costco and Sam's Club offering "countdown to kickoff" deals on Vizio TVs. Costco also promises "big game savings" on Samsung TVs. Sam's Club has "kick off game day," where you can "score big" on the best big screens and fan-day snacks. If you click through to the TV section of that site, you can "master the screen pass" on TVs, score "major points" with salty snacks, and even "tackle cleanup" with disposable paper goods.

As we get closer to the actual game, we'll be looking for retailers to adopt even more creative end-runs around the NFL's trademark. Let us know in the comments section (below) whether you see any.

Later this week we'll be highlighting our top TV picks for watching the Super Bowl.

We'll also reveal some of our top TV bargains closer to the game, so keep checking back for all of our TV updates.

James K. Willcox

James K. Willcox leads Consumer Reports’ coverage of TVs, streaming media services and devices, broadband internet service, and the digital divide. He's also a homeowner covering several home improvement categories, including power washers and decking. A veteran journalist, Willcox has written for Business Week, Cargo, Maxim, Men’s Journal, Popular Science, Rolling Stone, Sound & Vision, and others. At home, he’s often bent over his workbench building guitars or cranking out music on his 7.2-channel home theater sound system.