How live sports on CTV can drive reach for brands

The Winter Olympics kicked off Friday, followed by the Super Bowl on Sunday, capping a rare weekend of mass-viewed live sports. Beyond the scores and ceremonies, the events underscored something else entirely — how brands are increasingly relying on premium live moments to reach audiences at scale.

Over 21 million viewers tuned into the Olympics opening ceremony, with 3 million streaming the broadcast on Peacock, highlighting how live sports now deliver reach across both linear TV and connected platforms.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts is just one example of a brand benefiting from the live sports surge: The hotel group recently boasted that it reached 2.3 million households through its “Life’s a Trip” campaign, with 89% of those households not previously reached via linear TV.

The campaign used The Trade Desk platform to bid on inventory from multiple connected TV (CTV) private marketplaces across different time zones.

According to the company, viewers exposed to ads during live sports on CTV were twice as likely to book a hotel compared to those reached through other CTV content. Those events needed fewer impressions to drive outcomes than non-sports programming.

“This campaign highlighted how booking behaviors improve when you can reach people during marquee sports events,” said Stephanie Dworak, managing director at PMG, which worked on the campaign. 

”Customers’ propensity to book a hotel just skyrockets when they see advertisements during emotional moments like live sports.”

There will be plenty more opportunities this year for brands to take advantage of major live sports events, including the FIFA World Cup in June, as advertisers continue shifting budgets toward live programming that can deliver incremental reach.

“As linear viewing fragments and on-demand consumption erodes shared attention, live sports have become the backbone of television reach,” said Jordan Rost, vice president of product marketing at The Trade Desk.

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk Inc. This information is provided solely for background and is not a representation or guarantee of any future performance.