Winter Olympics triple digital ad revenue for NBCUniversal

As a performance wearable brand, Oura — the ring that tracks sleep, activity and stress — knew it needed to be part of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, where resilience and persistence are on global display.

“It’s a rare cultural moment when the U.S. audience is tuned into what it means to feel and live well,” Doug Sweeny, chief marketing officer at Oura, told The Current.

With the Games also streaming on Peacock, the opportunity became even more compelling: Sweeny said the Oura consumer is 30% more likely to stream the Olympics on Peacock, making it “a natural, human place for our brand to show up in an authentic way.”

Oura joined brands across sectors and sizes — including Dave’s Hot Chicken, Viking, Michelob Ultra, T-Mobile, Hers, Dick’s and Autodesk — at the XXV Winter Olympics. Early Nielsen figures indicate the Games drew 23.5 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, digital platforms and Versant’s CNBC and USA Network.

The 17-day event occurred during NBCUniversal’s “Legendary February” — a lineup that combined the Olympics, the Super Bowl and the NBA All-Star Weekend in a single month — and delivered a win of its own for NBCU.

The company reported that the Milan Cortina Olympics generated three times the digital ad revenue of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, marking the highest-grossing Winter Games in its history. It’s the first Games where NBCU expanded its programmatic access across several DSPs.

More than 250 unique advertisers participated across Legendary February events, with 60% of advertisers being new compared to 2022, the last time NBCU packaged the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics together. An Adease analysis found that financial services led ad share during the Games, with RBC as the top advertiser.

Legendary results

While impact and those KPI performance numbers are still coming in for many brands, NBCUniversal is highlighting how its Legendary February tentpoles helped propel performance for brands that participated across multiple events.

Nearly 70% of advertisers ran across more than one event, reaching over 215 million viewers. Viewers who watched all three tentpoles were 53% more likely to engage with the ads. Super Bowl ads that also aired during the Olympics were 50% more likely to be remembered than ads placed elsewhere, according to NBCU.

Live sports programming overall tends to hold consumer attention. Recent data from The Trade Desk Intelligence found that 56% of Americans say they’re more likely to notice brands that advertise during sports programming.

Overall, NBC more than doubled (2.1 times) search engagements for brands compared to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Advertisers saw 4.5 times more search engagements than ads running on other broadcast networks during the same period. To generate the same level of search activity, advertisers would need to “buy 118 ads in competitive TV” spots, according to NBCU.

From Feb. 8 to Feb. 14, Peacock recorded its best week ever in viewership and reach, delivering a 20% higher reach than during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

“Legendary February reflects the strength of NBCUniversal’s portfolio and the enduring power of premium, live storytelling at scale. By bringing together culture-defining moments across sports and entertainment, we’ve created a record-breaking marketplace that proves the future of advertising is built on connection, community and shared experiences,” said Mark Marshall, chairman, global advertising and partnerships, at NBCUniversal, in a comment.

Figs was among the returning advertisers. After seeing strong results from its Summer 2024 Olympics campaign, “Anatomy of a Champion,” the brand came back for the 2026 Winter Games. Its Olympic capsule collection sold out almost immediately, driving a 28% increase in website traffic. Among health care professionals — its core audience — it saw a 4% uplift in brand affinity and a 7% uplift in brand consideration.

NBCU is now looking ahead to the launch of Major League Baseball in March, the FIFA World Cup this summer, its own centennial later this year and the 100th anniversary of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“As we enter our next century, this moment reinforces what sets NBCUniversal apart — the ability to unite audiences and deliver meaningful impact for our partners across every screen. We’re grateful to the brands who have helped make this a collective seminal moment that we’ll all remember for years to come,” Marshall added.