Ad sales in Rio Olympics outpace 2102 London Games

Seth Winter, Executive VP Sales and Sales Marketing at NBC Sports Group and NBC Universal News Group, expects ad sales for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to exceed US$1 billion. A few months ago, he didn´t seem so optimistic, but in the last few weeks the tendency has changed.”A couple months ago, we were behind London, and I wouldn’t say we were concerned, but we are now well ahead of London” said Winter on a press call. Digital sales are expected to exceed London Olympics as much as 50%. Since digital inventory is significantly smaller than linear, he highlighted that advertisers cannot buy without advertising on linear TV.The strongest categories have been automobiles, technology, consumer packed goods, insurance, quick-service restaurants and movie studios, among others. Winter also expects the Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates buy ad time during the games.The fact that the 2016 Olympics will take place in Rio, which is just one hour ahead of the East Coast, means more of the major competitions will be aired live in or around prime time, which is a great potential advantage for good ratings. Winter expects the ratings to be similar to those of the NFL.