70% of Advertisers New at the Olympics

The 2024 Paris Olympics kicked off Friday, marking a historic shift in how audiences experience the Games. Olympic ad spending is breaking records, with NBCUniversal on track to set a new high after securing $1.2 billion in advertising commitments. Notably, $350 million of this total comes from first-time Olympic advertisers. For the first time, NBC's streaming service, Peacock, is live-streaming all 329 medal events, offering over 5,000 hours of coverage.

Peacock has already achieved significant milestones. By Sunday, 4.5 billion minutes of Paris Olympics coverage had been streamed, surpassing the entire Tokyo Olympics' streaming total of 4.48 billion minutes across NBCUniversal's digital platforms. Sunday, July 28, marked Peacock's second-best day of engagement ever, with 6.0 million viewers streaming the coverage on Peacock and NBCU Digital platforms.

The average CPM for streaming ads on Peacock during the Olympics is $60 for live events and $40 for highlights and replays. In comparison, the average CPM for regular streaming ads on Peacock ranges between $20 to $30.

This significant difference in cost is justified by the heightened viewer engagement and larger audience reach during the Olympics. The influx of viewers tuning in for live sports, combined with the exclusive and extensive coverage, enhances the value of ad placements, making the higher CPM rates worthwhile for advertisers.

The modern approach to Olympic ad buying includes both traditional upfront deals through linear television and programmatic buys through Peacock. This allows smaller brands to create more niche and personalized advertising campaigns. With 70% of advertisers being new to the Olympics, this shift underscores the growing role of streaming in the future of sports broadcasting. As viewers increasingly opt for digital platforms, the landscape of sports advertising is poised for significant change.

The impact of these Olympics on advertisers is already evident. Ads during the Games are seeing higher attention (+18%), greater message recall (+33%), and an increased likelihood to search (+67%) compared to competitive broadcast/cable television. Key target audiences are being reached effectively, with Paris Olympics viewers being +24% more likely to be in the market for a car and +79% more likely to visit casual dining restaurants than the general population. This targeted reach is delivering impressive results, such as a +52% greater incremental brand search for auto advertisers and +50% higher intent to visit a restaurant for restaurant advertisers.

Thanks,

Zack Rosenberg

Achieving the deepest level of understanding of video through AI. Get in Touch ? P.S. Want 6.8X the results from your video advertising??Learn more!

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Quality Ad of the Week

Check out AdWeek’s roundup of the best of the best at the Olympics, if you’d like to see some of the top Olympic ads.