NBC breaks record $1.25 billion in ad sales as Paris Olympics ratings soar

While American athletes eat their Olympic gold medals, NBC is celebrating a platinum haul in ad dollars.

NBCUniversal said Wednesday that it broke its record for ad sales with its coverage of the Paris Summer Games, beating the previous mark of $1.25 billion amassed during the last Olympics in Tokyo.

The media giant declined to disclose how much ad revenue it had, but confirmed it raked in more than $1.25 billion as ratings for the Paris games soared 77% year-to-date over the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Games.

“The Paris 2024 Games have given a uniquely powerful halo to brands on an extraordinary scale with a highly engaged and passionate audience,” said Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s president of global advertising and partnerships.

NBC provided some details on the ad mix for Paris, noting that nearly half a billion dollars in ad revenue came from first-time sponsors.

The company added that digital advertising revenue has more than doubled compared to the 2021 Tokyo games.

He also noted that the total number of advertisers was more than double that of the Tokyo and Rio 2016 games combined.

NBC paid $7.75 billion for the rights to broadcast the Summer and Winter Games through 2032, including the 2028 Olympics to be held in Los Angeles.

The record revenue comes on top of rising estimates for the Comcast-owned broadcaster.

NBC drew 28.6 million viewers for Friday’s opening ceremony, which featured a comeback performance by Celine Dion.

On Saturday, the network’s audience grew to 32.4 million and rose to 41.5 million, thanks to the first day of competition for Simone Biles and the USA women’s gymnastics team, according to Nielsen and Adobe analytics data.

NBC said it drew 31.3 million viewers Monday, which featured the U.S. gymnasts winning their first medal, a bronze, in the team event since 2008 in dramatic fashion.

The strong showing reflects a 77% jump from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, which averaged 19.1 million viewers.

In addition to a friendlier time zone for American viewers, NBC credited its Peacock streaming service for the added growth.

“Led by Peacock, 4.5 billion minutes of coverage of the Paris Olympics have been broadcast through Sunday – surpassing all of the Tokyo Olympics [4.48 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms],” NBC said.

The Paris Games also mark a dramatic comeback from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which drew historically low TV ratings of just 11.4 million average total viewers.