NBCU On Track for Record-Setting Olympics Ad Revenue

By Tom Butts
published

Advertisers returning after Covid-restricted games in Tokyo and Beijing

NBCU
(Image credit: NBCU)

NBCUniversal said on Tuesday it has sold $1.2 billion in ads for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer and is on track to reach  the all-time ad sales record for the Olympics. 

The revenue total includes about $350 million from new advertisers and about $100 million from International Olympic Committee (IOC) sponsors including Procter & Gamble, Visa and Toyota, which is up 18% from the Covid-restricted Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021, NBCU told Reuters. 

NBCU officials attributed the growth to this being the first Games since the onset of the pandemic in 2020 to allow full participation as well as its European local being a more favorable time zone for live coverage.

Last month, for the first time in Summer Olympics history, NBCU announced that all of its Olympics coverage will also be available on its Peacock streaming platform. NBCU said its digital ad revenue has already hit a record and that all ad inventory is sold out for the opening and closing ceremonies. 

Tom Butts
Tom Butts

Tom has covered the broadcast technology market for the past 25 years, including three years handling member communications for the National Association of Broadcasters followed by a year as editor of Video Technology News and DTV Business executive newsletters for Phillips Publishing. In 1999 he launched digitalbroadcasting.com for internet B2B portal Verticalnet. He is also a charter member of the CTA's Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. Since 2001, he has been editor-in-chief of TV Tech (www.tvtech.com), the leading source of news and information on broadcast and related media technology and is a frequent contributor and moderator to the brand’s Tech Leadership events.