Political advertising has occupied 27 minutes and 45 seconds of Nebraska football broadcasts this season, according to an analysis by Nebraska Public Media News that tracked ads shown during seven games.
The newsroom counted 53 political advertisements for a potential audience that includes about 1.3 million Nebraskans eligible to vote. The ads addressed races in Nebraska and, during one broadcast, campaigns from another state.
The Senate contest received most of the airtime
The race between incumbent U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and independent Dan Osborn accounted for the largest share of the Nebraska political advertising. Nebraska Public Media counted 31 ads in that contest, totaling 975 seconds.
- 53 political ads aired during seven tracked games.
- The ads totaled 1,635 seconds, or 27 minutes and 45 seconds.
- The Ricketts-Osborn Senate race accounted for 975 seconds across 31 ads.
The amount of political advertising increased as the football season progressed. Nebraska Public Media counted 90 seconds during the Sept. 5 game against Ohio and 465 seconds during the matchup with Michigan State in the fourth week of the season.
The mix depended on several factors, including viewers’ television providers, their locations and the time games began. The Indiana game, which aired as Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff, carried fewer political ads than the two games before it. No Indiana-based political ads aired in Lincoln during that broadcast.
Ads included state and national contests
The Michigan State broadcast was the only one in the analysis with a substantial number of ads from a race outside Nebraska. Viewers in Lincoln saw advertisements tied to Michigan’s Senate and gubernatorial contests, including the state Senate race involving incumbent Sen. Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed.
The Nebraska ads included campaign messages using humor, food references and personal accounts of sexual violence. One advertisement focused on a pardon granted by a former governor, while another used a fictionalized reference to “liberal cereal.” Osborn appeared in an ad built around meat-related wordplay.
The analysis comes as television remains a major outlet for political campaigns, even as some viewers move away from traditional cable and broadcast services. Nebraska Public Media cited an estimate that broadcasters are expected to receive about $5.6 billion in political advertising nationwide before the 2026 midterms.
“We're in an environment where attention spans are shorter, and so ads often need to really grab people's attention,” said Edward Timke, an assistant professor of advertising and public relations at Michigan State University.
Timke studies how advertisers respond to changes in consumer behavior. The 2026 general election is scheduled for Nov. 3, when Nebraska voters will choose among candidates in the Senate, governor’s and congressional contests along with deciding statewide ballot measures.
