Disney has started to move Super Bowl commercial time in earnest, but only after a round of squawking that would have impressed Donald Duck.

After pressing advertisers to pony up $10 million for a 30-second spot as well as a $10 million “match” for other inventory tied to its 2027 broadcast of Super Bowl LXI, Disney has sold a significant chunk in deals that value half a minute in the Big Game at around $8 million, according to two people familiar with recent negotiations. Disney’s decision to agree to a lower price comes after intense pushback from advertisers and their representatives, according to three media buyers familiar with the matter, and suggests Madison Avenue will only pay so much for sports properties, no matter how popular they have become in the streaming era.

“We have seen strong early demand from emerging categories driving double digit units at $9 million each in addition to spending across Disney’s football portfolio,” Disney said in a statement. “Advertisers are leaning in early, recognizing the unmatched scale and cultural impact of the game with investment coming from seven major categories, led by A.I., finance, and pharma.”

Disney tried to set a floor at $9 million, according to media buyers, but those who bought more than 10 units at that price were largely “independents,” or advertisers new to the Super Bowl who do not enjoy a longer-term relationship with Disney or are represented by one of the U.S. advertising industry’s major media-buying agencies.

The company’s plans for the Super Bowl are ambitious. Disney’s rights deal with the NFL calls for the game to be telecast on both ABC and ESPN, with a separate “alterna-cast” led by Peyton and Eli Manning to appear on ESPN2. The telecast will take place on February 14, Valentine’s Day, and the Monday afterward is a federal holiday, President’s Day. Disney and the NFL may also have other ideas in store, according to two people familiar with the matter, that could include additional Super Bowl telecasts aimed at narrower audiences shown across other parts of the Disney media empire.

But the company’s plans for dealing with advertisers may have been equally driven. Disney’s ABC has not aired a Super Bowl since 2006, which means the company was able to contemplate a new process. Typically, the network airing a Super Bowl reaches out to what are known as “incumbents,” or advertisers who had positions in network’s previous Big Game telecast..The network hosting the Super Bowl typically gives these advertisers an early chance to buy in the next time it has the gridiron classic under its command. After offering them an opportunity, a network might also reach out to sponsors of the previous game.

Marketers who have multi-year deals with the NFL and often run commercials in the Super Bowl had begun to hear that they might not be able to have the usual positions they enjoyed in the ad lineup, according to media buyers, and made their outrage known. If Disney is going to award long-held positions to newer advertisers, says one media buying executive, “well, you’re going to get pushback from the marketplace.”

“There has been a bit of disarray,” says another media buyer.

Even so, one media buyer estimated Disney may have already sold at least 50% of its game-time inventory. Maybe Disney has gotten some of its ducks in a row.