NBCU hits $1.25B in ad revenue, surpassing total Tokyo sales

NBCUniversal says it has already hit at least $1.25 billion in advertising revenue from its broadcasts of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris — and it’s four days into the games.

The $1.25 billion mark is key because that’s how much advertising it sold during the entire last summer Olympics, the delayed Tokyo 2020 games held in 2021.

“The 2024 Paris Games have delivered a uniquely powerful halo for brands at an incredible scale with a highly engaged and passionate audience,” said Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships, 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.”

NBCU chairman Mark Lazarus said he expects the 2024 games to be “quite profitable” on “The Town” podcast, though he did not elaborate.

NBCU also noted that 70% of the advertisers participating so far have not advertised during the Olympics before, representing about $300 million of the tally.

NBCU reportedly spent $1.45 billion for the last summer Olympics in Tokyo as part of a deal announced in 2014. It’s not clear how much NBCU paid for Paris specifically, though rights deals often increase each successive year.

The rights fee paid to the International Olympic Committee also doesn’t include all of the media giant’s cost to produce the games, which includes sending talent and crew to Paris and setting up temporary broadcast facilities. NBCU typically does not disclose how much it spends on those costs.

Given that it’s hit $1.25 billion only four days into competition, NBCU seems well situated to turn a profit, especially with its broadcasts generating significantly higher ratings than the little-watched Tokyo games. 

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The $1.25 billion figure could include commitments made by advertisers over the entire course of the games, so it’s unlikely that the company will continue to bring in $1.25 billion every four days for the remainder of the games.

NBCU is also likely to realize ancillary benefits such as being able to promote its other programming and services during the broadcasts for free, and potentially leveraging what have so far been large audiences to get people to watch those shows or sign up for its Peacock streamer. The monetary value of this yet-to-be-realized revenue would likely be difficult to calculate concretely. 

NBCU has secured the rights to the Olympics through 2032 as part of a deal worth $7.65 billion overall. That includes the winter Olympics scheduled during those times as well.

It’s common to compare summer games to other summer games and winter-to-winter because the lineups of events tend to be fairly consistent and the events are typically scheduled during similar times each year. The summer Olympics tend to attract more viewers than its winter counterparts.