On any given Sunday I could happily watch two or three NFL games in their entirely – if I didn’t have a few other things to do. So like many fans I sample- a quarter here, a quarter there, maybe a whole half; only the Steelers get my attention, devotion, prayers and passion for an entire game.

I have to believe that this is not an abnormal NFL fan viewing pattern (Steelers obsession aside), perhaps even lighter than the average.

So how is it that on most given Sundays I am exposed to the same exact ads 4-5 times? What happened to the old reach and frequency rules? Wasn’t it 5 times frequency OVER A BUY, not 5 times over an afternoon?

Under these conditions even the most effective creative (FedEx and Staples) runs the risk of wear-out by the third game of the season or mid-way through the second game of any given Sunday. Less effective creative; the Coors Coaches and Chevy “Our Country” campaigns, just becomes incredibly annoying really, really fast.

No way to sell a product, build a Brand or invest an advertising budget.

So what’s the problem? Simple – who can afford to produce enough creative to feed an NFL buy? With the average cost of a spot topping $1million and most buys requiring 8 spots a Sunday, almost no one. So production costs undermine a very, very expensive media buy and everyone pretends they don’t notice.

Too bad, just when traditional agencies should be upping their game, they’re falling back on to the same old, same old. Not the way to win a game that is in the late 4th quarter.