How the Olympics proved that viewers still have an appetite for live sports
Every four years, the world stands still to watch some of the best athletes on the planet compete in the Olympics. Few events come with the pageantry the Olympics do, and advertisers want to take advantage of that.
As the excitement of the games wrapped up, so did another part of the games: advertising. Since the Tokyo games, advertisers have seen a marked shift in viewership of the games, with an 82% increase since 2021. People were energized about the games this year, and advertisers were taking advantage.
Many companies were drawn by the “halo effect” that comes with advertising during the Olympics. An event with that kind of prestige and viewership can catapult a brand into the mind of viewers in a way that’s distinct from other, more common events.
Most importantly, the numbers support this trend. Advertisers saw a 27 percent increase in ad attention, 44 percent better message recall, 14 percent higher brand search engagement and a 17 percent increase in purchase intent.
This year’s broadcast of the Olympics was markedly different than it has been in the past. With the advent of streaming services, more people streamed the Olympics this year than ever before. Peacock’s unique, A.I. powered “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock” allowed viewers to select which events they wanted to watch on a schedule that worked for them, drawing in more overall watch time.
At the end of the day, this translates to broader audiences engaging with the Olympics, resulting in increased brand exposure of both new and familiar names.
This audience will continue to grow as more customers are cutting the cord and moving to platforms like YouTube TV and Peacock as their primary source of live sporting events. NBCUniversal, which owns Peacock, has secured the rights to various other high-profile live sporting events, such as NBA and NFL games, WWE fights and Premier League Soccer matches. Other streaming services have followed suit by gaining exclusive rights to stream certain high-profile sporting events. With the success advertisers saw at the Olympics, more and more brands will look to these platforms to get their message in front of customers.
If you’re looking to increase your brand awareness for some upcoming live sporting events or just looking for a new and better approach to marketing, check out what we do at mhp.si. We partner proven traditional media strategies with cutting-edge digital tactics. Our teams stay on top of the latest trends to help you reach your customers. Reach out here if you want to learn more.
Sources and Further reading
https://2164593.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2164593/Reports/Samba%20TV%20%7C%20Paris%202024%20Olympics%20Report.pdf (Samba TV study)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/08/01/nbc-ratings-paris-olympics
