NBCU nets $1.2 billion in Olympics ad sales more than 100 days out from Paris 2024

NBCUniversal is sold out of ad inventory for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics on both digital and linear platforms, according to Dan Lovinger, NBCU’s president of Olympic and Paralympic partnerships.

With just over 100 days to go until the Summer Games, NBCU has so far netted $1.2 billion in ad sales, Lovinger said during a press call Tuesday, putting the network on track to break the record for the most ad revenue in Olympic history.

“Paris ’24 is shaping up to be the biggest games we’ve ever had across both linear and streaming,” Lovinger said. “As the games move to Paris, then Milano-Cortina, and eventually to LA in 2028, there’s an unquestioned resurgence in Olympic interest.”

Going for gold: The record for Olympic ad revenue is just above $1.2 billion, Lovinger said. While NBCU hasn’t passed it yet, Lovinger said he is “highly confident” it will be broken this year. (The network, he added, already passed its own record for digital Olympic ad revenue.)

Of that revenue, more than $350 million has come from first-time advertisers to the Games, according to Lovinger. There’s been “significant increases in the non-alcoholic beverage, CPG, financial services, and retail” categories, he said.

Take my money! Last year, Lovinger told Marketing Brew that Paris Olympics ad sales were “pacing ahead” of past games, and certain inventory seems to be particularly popular. NBCU’s new ad format, “Prime Pods,” which promotes individual ad campaigns during prime-time programming, was sold out as of October.

Halftime sponsorships for team sports, notably basketball and soccer, have been popular, and sports like gymnastics, swimming, and track and field have proved attractive to advertisers, he said. Overall, nearly 95% of NBCU’s “custom prime-time activations” are sold out, Lovinger said.

The broadcaster has taken additional steps to help make the games even more attractive to advertisers: Paris 2024 marks the first time Olympic inventory will be available programmatically. (NBCU isn’t alone; Disney has also been encouraging more programmatic buying in sports, including in this year’s women’s March Madness tournament.)

With the games sandwiched between the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention, political advertising could make up a small piece of the advertising pie as well, according to Lovinger. “I would expect to see a bit of it,” he said, “but we really intend for these games to be red, white, and blue, not red or blue.”

GNO(lympics): More than half of NBCU’s prime-time coverage will be centered on women’s sports, Lovinger said. Paris 2024 will mark the first Olympics to reach gender parity, and on the back of a record-breaking women’s March Madness, interest in women’s sports has shown no signs of slowing down heading into the summer.

“We’ve seen advertisers specifically come to the Olympics to reach women viewers,” Lovinger said. “Overall, and it’s not just the Olympics, across NBCUniversal and all of our sports properties, we are seeing a surge in interest in reaching women and supporting women in sport.”

Put a ring on it: What’s next? NBCU will announce its new social partners in the next few weeks. On April 17, 100 days before the Opening Ceremony, it will also showcase five Olympic ring holder sponsors on Today, Lovinger said.