NBCU is gearing up for their exclusive coverage of the Paris Summer Olympics, with the Opening Ceremonies just three months away. The network is approaching a record ad revenue figure for the upcoming games, with Peacock set to live stream all 329 medal events, totaling 5,000 hours. In a first, Olympics events will also be available in selected movie theaters across the country. Additionally, NBC will introduce Prime Pods for marketers and a Gold Zone for viewers to enhance the Olympic experience.
Dan Lovinger, president of Olympic and Paralympic Sales, announced that the 2024 Paris Olympics are on track to set a new ad revenue record, with $1.2 billion already committed. Prior to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, NBCU had booked $1.25 billion from advertisers, only to have the games postponed due to COVID. Despite this setback, ad dollars for the 2021 Olympics exceeded $1.2 billion. This year, NBCU is expecting to set a new ad revenue record with commercial inventory still available, with $350 million coming from first-time Olympic sponsors.
Prominent product categories investing in the games include non-alcoholic beverages, retailers, financial services, CPG, and entertainment. Several International Olympic Committee sponsors, including Procter & Gamble, Visa, and Toyota, have committed $100 million, an 18% increase from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Marketers will now be able to purchase Olympic ads programmatically, making it easier for them to promote their products during the games.
With a record-breaking interest in female sporting events like the Women’s NCAA Basketball tournament, NBC is expecting to attract a large female audience for the Summer Olympics. Female athletes like Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone are expected to perform well at the games, drawing in viewers. It is anticipated that the Summer Olympics will continue to appeal to both male and female viewers alike, with the Tokyo Olympics seeing more female medalists than males.
Several long-time Olympic sponsors are cutting back on their ad budgets or opting for digital media instead of traditional television ads. Procter & Gamble plans to scale back their budget by 50% in the future, while sponsors like Bridgestone and Intel are skipping television ads in favor of digital and social media campaigns. NBCU is providing live coverage of the Olympics on broadcast networks during the daytime, with primetime coverage focusing on highlights and human-interest stories about the athletes.
The 2024 Paris Olympics will mark the return of the games to the “City of Light” for the third time, with Paris hosting its third Summer Olympics, matching London. The 2024 Olympics are the second of six under NBCU’s $7.75 billion media rights agreement with the IOC, giving the network exclusivity in the U.S. until the 2032 Summer Olympics. NBCU is introducing innovative ways to enhance the Olympic experience for viewers, including Prime Pods for advertisers and the Gold Zone channel on Peacock for live event coverage.
