NBC’s Olympic Advertisers Seek Certainty
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merican broadcasting company NBC are seeking to fill the advertising slots of sponsors who dropped out after the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
In a pre-pandemic announcement, NBC Sports executive vice president of ad sales, Dan Lovinger, stated his team had “sold nearly 90% of [their] Tokyo Olympic inventory and the vast majority of [their] tentpole sponsorships had been sold.”
“We have recently surpassed (US)$1.25 billion (AUD$1.61 billion) in national advertising for Tokyo, which exceeds our sales total for Rio 2016 and is a new Olympic record,” Lovinger said.
Despite breaking the record, Sportico reports many advertisers paused their investments while others had to withdraw their commitments.
While advertisers seek assurance the Tokyo Olympic Games would go ahead, as the event fast approaches “the network in recent weeks has seen an uptick in activity from clients.”
Multi-national consumer goods corporation, Proctor and Gamble launched their Olympic Games advertising campaign in May promising two films and a docuseries as well as various 30-second ads for brands the company represents.
An NBC Sports representative said in a statement that they are pleased with “the markets enthusiasm for the Tokyo Olympics.”
“Brands continue to recognise the unparalleled value of the Games, and we continue to work with them to innovate and deliver new opportunities that will enhance the impact of their campaigns and the viewer experience,” the representative said.
Sportico report the majority of NBC’s Olympic revenue comes from ad sales with national sales for the 2016 Rio Olympics accounting for US$1.2 billion (AUD$1.54 billion) of the $1.62 billion (AUD$2.1 billion) total revenue.
In 2011, NBC made a deal worth $4.38 billion (AUD$5.7 billion) to cover the Olympic Games from 2014-2020 and later increased the deal to $7.75 billion (AUD$10 billion) to extend the agreement until 2032.
NBC recently announced its most comprehensive coverage of the event, promising over 7000 hours of content across two broadcast networks, six cable networks and a number of streaming platforms.
NBC executive producer and Olympics production president, Molly Solomon, said the coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games would be unprecedented.
“We are going to deliver the most comprehensive – and accessible – coverage for any sporting event in history,” Solomon said.
“The depth and breadth of our broadcasts will be unprecedented, showcasing once-in-a-generation athletes and storylines that will capture the incredible uniqueness of these Games and our times,” she said.
