Written by Sheila Dunn
(Reuters) – As the July opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics approaches, with fans expected to fill the Olympic Stadium for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. broadcaster NBCUniversal has announced that it will Global sporting events are attracting renewed interest from major corporate sponsors. 19 pandemic.
NBCU, a Comcast company, announced Tuesday that it generated $1.2 billion in advertising for the Paris Games and is on track to set a new Olympic record. The company paid $7.65 billion to renew its broadcast rights deal through 2032, making it the world's largest gaming deal.
Advertising spending from International Olympic Committee (IOC) sponsors is currently up 18% compared to the previous Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021, said Dan Lovinger, director of Olympic and Paralympic sales at NBCU. stated in an interview.
This announcement marks a recovery from the previous year. In recent Olympics, IOC sponsors have cut ad spending with media companies, said a former NBCU executive and another person familiar with ad sales.
IOC sponsors, including major brands such as Visa, Toyota and Procter & Gamble, have paid an estimated $100 million or more for the right to use the famous Olympic rings in their marketing materials.
This growth is due to Paris being the first Olympics to allow all spectators since the pandemic, and a more favorable time zone for U.S. spectators after three Olympics in Asia. Lovinger said.
“There are very few facilities that help[brands]build their reach and know exactly where their ads are being shown. That's why the Olympics continues to attract support from major advertisers.” he said.
As audiences, especially young people, increasingly consume content online and through social media, NBCU is taking steps to keep up with that change. Last month, the company announced that all the games in Paris, the first of the Summer Olympics, would be available to watch on its Peacock streaming service. Advertisers will be able to buy ads for the first time using automated technology rather than salespeople, and NBCU has also struck a deal with X to post clips on Snapchat.
Lovinger said NBCU's digital ad revenue in Paris has already exceeded previous Olympics.
“It’s getting harder and harder.”
A former NBCU executive and a second person familiar with the company's ad sales said that in previous Olympics, when the IOC's top sponsors cut advertising spending, NBCU sold to brands that were not Olympic partners to make up the difference. The network has been expanded.
The former executive said the company sold to about three times as many advertisers to meet its sales goals for Tokyo and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, adding that the effort was “getting increasingly difficult.”
In March 2020, NBCU announced that it had sold $1.25 billion in advertising for the Tokyo Summer Olympics. When the game was postponed to next year due to the pandemic, the media company restarted the sales process. NBCU said in mid-2021 that Tokyo is on track to surpass the $1.2 billion in ad sales for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, but will it surpass the $1.25 billion in ad sales before the Tokyo Games were postponed? He declined to make a clear statement.
Lovinger said NBCU posted $350 million in revenue from brand advertising for the first time during the Olympics, adding that the increased number of advertisers supporting the Olympics is a positive for the Games.
Procter & Gamble previously spent tens of millions of dollars on NBCU for the Olympics, but cut spending by about 50% over time, a former NBCU executive said.
NBCU declined to comment on P&G's spending. P&G announced that its brands will air television commercials during the Paris Games.
IOC sponsors semiconductor maker Intel and tire brand Bridgestone told Reuters they would halt TV advertising and move their marketing campaigns in Paris to digital platforms.
“The days of big TV campaigns are over,” said Sara Correa, Bridgestone's chief marketing officer.
Bridgestone has filmed a video showcasing how its rubber technology is helping Paralympic athletes with rubber soles for wheelchair tires and running blades, and posted a video on the company's YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. Posted to your account.
In addition to digital and social advertising, Intel said it is also considering billboards and so-called outdoor advertising.
Digital can be attractive to brands focused on keeping costs down. “The absolute cost of digital is low. Digital is easier to track and easier to measure,” said Martin Sorrell, founder of advertising firms S4 Capital and WPP.
Visa said it continues to believe in the power of television in live sports, but “the center of gravity for fans, especially younger fans, is social media,” said Frank Cooper, Visa's chief marketing officer.
Toyota said it will advertise on television, including during the opening and closing ceremonies, and will work with celebrities and athletes to connect with viewers beyond traditional sports fans.
“This is an interesting way to expand the traditional Olympic marketing base and connect with people through influencers,” said Dedra Delilli, Toyota's head of sponsorship.
(Reporting by Sheila Dunn in Austin; Additional reporting by Richa Naidu and Helen Reid in London and Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by Kenneth Lee and Alistair Bell)
