NBC has sold more than $1 billion in ads for the Rio Olympics

NBC has announced that it has surpassed $1 billion in national ad sales for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And the pace of sales is set to top the record set by the London Olympics in 2012.

The sales include all ads for broadcast, cable and digital platforms and the surpassing of the $1 billion mark comes four months earlier than when it was hit in 2012 which was just two days prior to the London Opening Ceremony.

A couple of reasons why the sales are going so well for NBC Olympics is that advertisers are very bullish on the Games knowing that they’ll be very time zone friendly for the United States and there will be several glamour events like swimming and track & field which will be aired live in primetime in the Eastern half of the country.

Despite concerns over the Zika virus, water pollution and a political scandal that’s been brewing in Brazil, advertisers feel the value of attaching themselves outweigh any potential problems that may surface during the 17 days of competition.

And with NBC planning to stream many events live, sales for online ads are being reserved especially to the advertisers who are buying time on TV which allows them to reach viewers beyond just television.

Plus NBC still has some primetime spots available as well some prime real estate on cable, so if advertisers still want to get on board with the Olympics, now would be the time to jump before it’s too late.

With this being the last Olympics in the Western Hemisphere until at least 2024 (2018, 2020 and 2022 are being conducted in South Korea, Japan and China, respectively), U.S. marketers know that this will be a very good opportunity to latch onto Olympic action and reach wide audiences when much of the action is taking place in late afternoon and primetime.

[NBC Sports]