NBC is about to find itself with an “embarrassment of riches” next winter, at least according to Puck’s sports reporter John Ourand.
The network is positioned to broadcast the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, and the NBA All-Star Game, all within two weeks. While that will obviously present some challenges for the network from a production standpoint as resources are spread thin, it also presents challenges from an advertising perspective.
With network “upfronts” set to take place this week, when media companies sell a large portion of their advertising inventory for the upcoming year, NBC will have a ton of supply to sell to prospective brands. And with all three events falling during a traditionally slow time for marketers — that is, after the winter holidays — NBC will have to be creative in formulating brand packages.
Jeremy Carey, the chief investment officer of Optimum Sports, discussed some of these challenges with Ourand on The Varsity podcast.
“We got to find the benefit in it, right? What we’re talking about is you’ve got incredible lead-ins and lead-outs. The timing is a little challenging in terms of, which it always is with Winter Olympics, knowing that you’re coming out of fourth quarter, which is so sports dominant. Fourth quarter makes up roughly 40% of the total sports [spend] throughout the year, mostly centered around the regular season NFL stuff and college football being the number two sports property out there in terms of audience.
“You’re coming out of the holiday season, and you’re coming into this championship season. And in a year like this, where you’re adding Milano-Cortina into that mix, they’re supply rich. But there’s a lot of value there. And if you’re NBC and you’re looking at this, specifically the Olympics, it’s also a lead-in to LA28. So I think there’s a lot of partners out there that are looking at Milano-Cortina, and they’re leveraging that to make sure that, if you do want to get something done, knowing the importance of and the scale of summer versus winter, that there needs to be some participation in Milan.”
For NBC, leveraging the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028 to incentivize advertisers to partner on Milano-Cortina next year is a wise move. Brands will no doubt be knocking down NBC’s door to buy ads for the 2028 Olympics, but maybe not so much for the Winter Olympics next year, especially considering the other live sports opportunities NBC will be offering up in the same season. Reports have already surfaced that the network will offer Super Bowl and Olympics inventory bundles.
But if you’re NBC, this is a problem you’re happy to have. Better to have too many excellent sports properties than too few.