More than $11M was spent by political groups during Olympic broadcasts, and almost all of that green was blue.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign spent $10.2M in national Olympic telecasts and another $968,000 on local NBC affiliates’ Olympic coverage, according to a SportsBusiness Journal analysis of documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission (for local data) and iSpot.tv (for national spending).
Here’s a breakdown of some of the $11.4M spent on political advertising:
■ Clinton’s campaign had two different spots: “The Plan,” which ran 59 times, and “Trump Clothing Line,” which ran 56 times. Each appeared 11 times during prime time.
■ Only nine NBC affiliates gained revenue via political ad buys that aired during Olympic broadcasts, for a total of $1.17M. Philadelphia’s WCAU was the biggest benefactor, as the $266,800 it generated made up 23% of all such local, Olympics-political revenue. Orlando was second with 20%.
■ The Green Party’s presidential nominee Jill Stein ran one ad -- “The Greater Good.” The spot ran at 6:35am Saturday, Aug. 6 (Day 2), in a time slot known to advertisers as “morning fringe.” The slot cost Stein’s campaign $57,956.
■ Priorities USA, a pro-Clinton political action committee, aired 10 spots, each of them lasting one minute, for a total spend of $104,730.
■ The NRA purchased 28 30-second spots on local NBC affiliates, for a total spend of $73,000.
■ Rebuilding America Now, a pro-Trump PAC, represented the only directly Republican spending during the Games. The organization aired nine spots for a total of 4.5 minutes of airtime, equaling $18,700. Seven of the ads aired in Cleveland, and one each on Columbus and Orlando.
■ Media buys for the Clinton campaign are coordinated by Washington, D.C.-based GMMB; Rebuilding America uses Multi Media Services (Alexandria, Va.); the NRA uses Red Eagle Media Group (Alexandria, Va.); and Priorities USA uses Annapolis, Md.-based Targeted Platform Media.
