Paris Olympics on track to hit NBC ad sales record after pandemic By Reuters

By Sheila Dang

(Reuters) – As the July opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games approaches, U.S. broadcaster NBCUniversal is seeing renewed interest from major corporate sponsors in the world's premier sporting event as it expects fans to fill Olympic stadiums for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 pandemic.

Comcast-owned NBCU said Tuesday it has sold $1.2 billion in advertising for the Paris games and is on track to achieve a new sales record in Olympic history. The company paid $7.65 billion to renew its streaming rights deal through 2032, the world's largest deal for gaming.

Advertising spend by International Olympic Committee (IOC) sponsors is currently up 18% from the previous Summer Olympics in Tokyo that took place in 2021, Dan Lovinger, president of Olympic and Paralympic sales at NBCU, said in an interview.

The announcement represents a rebound from previous years. In the last Olympics, IOC sponsors reduced their advertising spending with the media company, according to a former NBCU executive and a second person familiar with advertising sales.

IOC sponsors, which include major brands such as Visa (NYSE ), toyota (NYSE:) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:), pay more than approximately $100 million for the right to use the famous Olympic rings in their marketing materials.

The growth can be attributed to Paris being the first Olympics to allow all spectators since the pandemic, and with a more favorable time zone for American audiences after three Olympics in Asia, Lovinger said.

“Very few properties can help (brands) generate reach and know exactly where their advertising is running. That's why the Olympics continue to get support from major advertisers,” he said.

As viewers, particularly young viewers, increasingly consume content online and through social media, NBCU has taken steps to follow the shift. It announced last month that, for the first time in the Summer Olympics, all events in Paris would be available on its Peacock streaming service. Advertisers will be able to buy ads for the first time using automated technology, rather than sellers, and NBCU has also signed deals to publish clips on x and Snapchat.

NBCU's digital advertising revenue for Paris has already surpassed that of any past Olympics, Lovinger said.

'HARDER EVERY TIME'

At previous Olympics, when major IOC sponsors reduced their advertising spending, NBCU cast a wider net to sell to brands that were not Olympic partners to make up the difference, according to the former NBCU executive and the second source familiar with its ad sales.

The former executive said the media company sold to about three times as many advertisers to hit sales targets for Tokyo and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, adding that the effort was “increasingly difficult.”

In March 2020, NBCU said it sold $1.25 billion in ads for the Tokyo Summer Olympics. The media company restarted the sales process when the games were delayed the following year due to the pandemic. NBCU said in mid-2021 that Tokyo was on track to surpass $1.2 billion in ads sold for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, but declined to say whether it would surpass $1.25 billion sold before the games were postponed. Tokyo games.

NBCU has booked $350 million in brand advertising revenue for the first time during the Olympics, Lovinger said, adding that the growth in the number of advertisers supporting the games is positive for the Olympics.

Procter & Gamble previously spent tens of millions of dollars with NBCU for the Olympics, but over time it reduced its spending by about 50%, the former NBCU executive said.

NBCU declined to comment on P&G's spending. P&G said its brands will have television commercials during the Paris games.

Chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ and tire brand Bridgestone, two IOC sponsors, told Reuters they will forego television ads and place their Paris marketing campaigns on digital platforms.

“The days of big TV campaigns are long gone,” said Sara Correa, marketing director at Bridgestone.

Bridgestone filmed a video showing how it uses its rubber technology to help Paralympic athletes with tires for their wheelchairs and rubber soles for their skates, which it posted on its YouTube, facebook (NASDAQ:) and instagram accounts.

Intel said it was exploring billboards and so-called outdoor advertising in addition to digital and social advertising.

Digital can be an attraction for brands looking to control costs. “The absolute cost of digital is lower. Digital is easier to track and measure,” said Martin Sorrell, founder of advertising companies S4 Capital and WPP (LON:).

Visa said it continued to believe in the power of television for live sports, but added that “the center of gravity for fans, especially relatively young fans, is social media,” said Frank Cooper, Visa's chief marketing officer.

Toyota said it would advertise on television, including during the opening and closing ceremonies, while working with celebrities and athletes to connect with audiences who are not traditional sports fans.

“It's an interesting way to expand a traditional Olympic marketing base and connect with people through influencers,” said Dedra DeLilli, Toyota's director of sponsorships.