NBC Sets Winter Olympics Ad Sales Record With $800M Committed For Sochi Games

NBC Sports Group Exec VP/Sales & Marketing Seth Winter said that NBCUniversal has sold $800M "in advertising for the 2014 Winter Olympics" in Sochi, according to Michael McCarthy of AD AGE. The "windfall for the Sochi games tops the previous Winter Olympics mark" of roughly $750M in ad sales for the '10 Vancouver Games and '02 Salt Lake City Games. NBC said that the Olympics are "attracting fewer advertisers who are spending more on exclusivity." The net said that its total ad sales for the Sochi Games "might approach" $970M with "local support." NBCU set the sales record despite “concerns going into Sochi that Russia’s anti-gay laws will cause skittish advertisers to hold back or drop their buys." But Winter said, "We have not seen a single advertiser fall out." Advertisers who have purchased time for the '14 Games include Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, Visa, AT&T, GM, BMW, Citibank, Kellogg’s and GE, as well as “first-time buyers such as Liberty Mutual and BP" (ADAGE.com, 9/30).