NBCUniversal expects record Olympics ad revenue, with 70% of advertisers being new

The Olympic torch arrived in Paris just five days ago and already the Games are making a big statement about live sports: Ad revenue and viewership is soaring, marking a notable increase in interest from both advertisers and audiences compared to previous Games, and a rebound from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Summer Games. And it coincides with a larger demand for live sports on streaming around the world.

NBCUniversal (NBCU), which holds the Olympics broadcasting rights through 2032, announced on Tuesday that it’s expecting this year’s Olympics and Paralympics to deliver the highest ad revenue in its history, securing more advertisers than the 2021 Tokyo and 2016 Rio Games combined. Digital ad revenue is expected to more than double from the Tokyo Games.

The company also said that 70% of advertisers this year are first-time Olympics sponsors, generating half a billion dollars.

This is also the first Olympics to give advertisers access to buying ad spots programmatically via Peacock across all 329 medal events. Some first-time Olympics advertisers previously told The Current how it offers accessibility for them.

“In the past, accessing Olympics and other tentpole-event inventory has required working directly with a publisher, which often came with high minimums, long lead times and additional production hurdles,” said Elizabeth Zupkow, senior director at Goodway Group, which is a media strategy partner for Tiger Balm.

“Accessing this opportunity programmatically means that we can connect the Tiger Balm brand with consumers quickly, easily and within our budget.

”NBCU had previously announced on Monday that brands were experiencing 18% higher attention on their ads compared to before the Games and 33% greater message recall.

Ad revenue and advertiser results aren’t the only things seeing a boost this Olympics; viewership is too.

From Friday’s Opening Ceremony through Monday’s day of competition, the Games averaged 33.8 million viewers across NBCU’s platforms, according to the company — up 77% from 2021’s pandemic-delayed Games in Tokyo.

Viewers for Friday’s Opening Ceremony totaled 28.6 million, the most-watched since 2012, and viewership has only grown since then.

Sunday saw 41.5 million viewers, NBCU said, doubling the first Sunday of the Tokyo Games. Six million viewers watched on Peacock and other NBCU digital platforms; it was Peacock’s second-best day of engagement ever, behind its exclusive NFL playoff game earlier this year, NBCU said (coverage on Peacock was limited during the 2021 Olympic Games, and the service had launched just a year prior). And over 31 million viewers watched on Monday.

The initial results suggest that interest in the Games could remain high, particularly given recent buzzy events.

Monday saw the U.S. men’s gymnastics team take home bronze, its first medal since 2008. And the U.S. women’s gymnastics team — spearheaded by Simone Biles — nabbed gold on Tuesday.

Anthony Amey, an assistant professor of practice for sports media and analytics at Virginia Tech, says that athlete stories like these are a big part of why people watch the Olympics, especially in a post-pandemic event where fans are in attendance again to “enhance the overall viewing experience.”

“Viewers love storylines they can follow and embrace,” he says.