Despite a severe economic crisis, advertisers paid TV network NBC a total of $206 million to show their ads during the Super Bowl broadcast Sunday night, setting a new record in revenue for the event.

NBC said the ad revenue for the entire day also hit a record of $261 million.

These advertising milestones show the power of the NFL brand and the strength of the Super Bowl as a TV property in this economic climate, said Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal in a statement.

NBC said Saturday it sold the last two of 69 ads for the game. The spots were each sold from $2.4 million to as much as $3 million, according to NBC Universal Sports & Olympics' chairman Dick Ebersol, according to Reuters.

To finish selling out the Super Bowl in these last two weeks, in this economy and at record levels, is a testament to the dogged determination of Seth Winter [Senior vice president of sales and marketing for NBC Sports], said Zucker.

This is the first time NBC broadcasts a Super Bowl in 11 years, Reuters noted. The football game is regarded as the most watched television broadcast in the U.S. with an average of 100 million viewers each year.

NBC -- owned by General Electric -- reportedly sold 80 percent of the ad space in September but struggled to finish as the economic downturn reduced advertiser spending.

National Football League Super Bowl Ads