Ad sales for Paris Olympics pace ahead of previous Games, NBCUniversal says

By Helen Coster

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Total advertising sales for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games are pacing ahead of where each of NBCUniversal’s previous Olympic and Paralympic Games were at this point in time, Dan Lovinger, NBCUniversal’s president of Olympic and Paralympic partnerships said Wednesday.

NBCUniversal has sold all of its advertising inventory for its live coverage of the Opening Ceremony and for halftime slots during soccer, basketball and other team competitions, across its broadcast, cable, streaming and digital platforms, said Lovinger.

Advertisers flock to major live sporting events because they still attract huge audiences at a time when TV viewers are watching content on their own time on streaming services.

Every Olympic and Paralympic event will stream live and on demand on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service, for the first time in the history of the Summer Games, the Comcast Corp -owned company announced previously.

The Paris Olympic Games, to be held from July 26 to Aug. 11 next year, are expected to draw huge spectator, TV and streaming audiences after the 2020 Games in Tokyo were marred by the COVID pandemic.

NBC, Peacock and Spanish-language network Telemundo will present the live coverage of the opening ceremony on July 26.

NBC’s broadcast of the Tokyo Games, which were delayed for a year because of the pandemic, drew the smallest audience for the Summer Games since NBC began broadcasting them in 1988. Yet the competitions still pulled in the biggest audiences on television when they aired, making them attractive showcases for advertisers.

NBCUniversal paid $7.65 billion to extend its U.S. broadcast rights for the Olympics through 2032.

(Reporting by Helen Coster; Editing by Stephen Coates)