NBCUniversal Scores Before Start of NBA Return Season
‘Live sports viewership continues to be strong, giving us a unique opportunity to reach the right audiences in fun and engaging content,’ said Jill Hamilton of AmEx
The NBCUniversal sales team ran a successful fast break, capitalizing on the return of the NBA this season.
The Comcast unit, which shelled out about $1.8 billion per year to steal the rights to NBA games from Turner Sports (for now TNT Sports), says it has nearly sold out its NBA inventory for the season, which starts on Oct. 21.
NBCU didn’t disclose revenue numbers but said that it sold NBA ads to more than 170 brands. It said more than 20% of those advertisers were new to NBCU and 10% were new advertisers on NBA games.
NBCU will be broadcasting games on NBC and streaming them on Peacock and more than 70% of NBCU’s clients bought cross-platform packages.
The inventory that NBCU has left in NBA games on Peacock will be available programmatically.
More than 30% of the ad dollars came from advertisers buying only digital inventory. At the same time, linear sales exceeded initial expectations by more than 20%, NBCU claimed.
Some of the sponsors buying key positions in NBA games include American Express as the official halftime sponsor, Kia as the official presenting sponsor of Tuesday’s NBA Coast to Coast, McDonald’s will sponsor Basketball Night in America and NBA Showtime on Sunday nights, State Farm will be the sponsor of the Tuesday NBA Showtime studio show, Wingstop will sponsor the Monday NBA Showtime studio show and Comcast’s Xfinity will be the official presenting sponsor for Peacock.
“As a longstanding partner of the NBA, with a card member base that is deeply passionate about sports, we’re thrilled to be the Official Halftime Sponsor of the NBA on NBC and Peacock,” said Jill Hamilton, VP, global media at American Express. “Live sports viewership continues to be strong, giving us a unique opportunity to reach the right audiences in fun and engaging content as the NBA returns to NBC.”
American Express is the official credit card of the NBA, WNBA and NBA G League and was a long time sponsor of the NBA on TNT.
“As a Chicago native, watching Michael Jordan and the Bulls win six championships with the NBA on NBC was an indescribable feeling and now helping to welcome the property back is both a personal and professional highlight for me. It is incredibly exciting to re-create the magic of the NBA on NBC as it returns to NBC and launches it on Peacock for the first time,” said Mark Marshall, Chairman, Global Advertising & Partnerships. “We have already seen the power of live sports at NBCUniversal for advertisers and our latest partnership with the NBA is going to prove that power tenfold.”
NBCU Sports has signed Jordan as a commentator.
Last week, NBCU announced a deal to integrate DraftKings into NBCU top sports properties, including the NFL, PGA Tour, Premier League and college football in addition to the NBA and WNBA. DraftKings will also be able to work with NBCU talent under the agreement.
“The demand for live sports over the last year has been unprecedented across our properties and the NBA is no exception. Launching a new property, there were certain expectations we had and the appetite from our partners far exceeded all of those,” said Peter Lazarus, executive VP at NBC Sports & Olympics, Advertising and Partnerships. “Advertisers were eager to invest across linear, streaming and digital, leading to our near sell-out. We are proud to welcome the NBA to our incredible roster of sports and bring both viewers and advertisers an unrivaled, world-class experience.”