NBCUniversal is set to exceed more than $1.25 billion in advertising surrounding the 2024 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games taking place in Paris, France. More than 70% of advertisers are new for the Summer Games and have generated nearly $500 million in advertising revenue. The media conglomerate has secured more advertisers for this year’s games than the 2016 Rio Games and 2020 Tokyo Games combined. Digital advertising revenue for the games is more than double of the total realized when the Summer Games were last held in Tokyo, equating to a record high for the company.
NBCUniversal signed an 11-year, $7.75 billion media rights deal with the International Olympic Committee to maintain the U.S. broadcast rights to the international athletic competition. The International Olympic Committee distributes more than 90% of revenue to support the International Sports Federations, along with the 204 National Olympic Committees and their Olympic teams and the Organizing Committees of each Olympic games. NBCUniversal reportedly generated $1.25 billion in advertising sales for the 2020 Tokyo Games, a monetary figure that it will eclipse this year.
“The 2024 Paris Games have delivered a uniquely powerful halo for brands at an incredible scale with a highly engaged and passionate audience,” Mark Marshall, chairman of global advertising and partnerships for NBCUniversal, said in a statement. “We are proud to have secured the highest Olympic and Paralympic advertising in the history of the Games, and are grateful to our advertisers for their partnership. Together, we have innovated the advertising experience with authentic and inspirational creative that is leaving a lasting impact on consumers.”
Over the first four days of telecasts from Paris, NBCUniversal amassed an average of 33.8 million viewers across the Paris prime time (2-5 p.m. EST) and United States prime time (8-11 p.m. EST) programming windows, a 77% increase from the Tokyo Olympic Games held in 2021. The Opening Ceremony attained a total audience delivery of 28.6 million viewers, the most-watched iteration of the event since 2012. Additionally, more than 2.5 million viewers streamed the Opening Ceremony on Peacock, making it the No. 1 entertainment event in the history of the platform.
NBCUniversal has presented several key victories by the United States, including the women’s gymnastics team winning the gold medal, world record in the 1500m relay set by Katie Ledecky and U.S. men’s basketball team victories in the first two games of competition. Peacock continues to deliver strong viewership for the games as well, also introducing other programming options such as Gold Zone and customized highlights narrated by an artificial intelligence recreation of the voice of legendary broadcaster Al Michaels.
