Nine banks on bumper Olympics advertising package spend
Nine Entertainment has been secretly pitching for companies to pay up to $12.5 million to back its Olympic Games coverage next year – a roughly 60 per cent increase on the Tokyo Games, as it aims to recoup the $305 million it agreed for the broadcast rights.
The ASX-listed company, which owns the Nine Network, the Stan streaming platform, and publishing businesses including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, unveiled its big pitch to 1300 advertisers, analysts, media executives and TV stars at its upfront event in Sydney last week.
Nine’s chief sales officer Michael Stephenson speaks to advertisers at the company’s annual upfront.
Before that, however, executives had spent weeks presenting to 40 major brands that have already committed to advertising with the upcoming Paris 2024 Games as sponsors of the International Olympic Committee or the Australian Olympic Committee. Nine has been asking for $12.5 million for its top-tier “Torch” package and $10.5 million for its “Flame” package. It is aiming to entice up to 15 sponsors.
Nine secured the rights to the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year after outbidding competitor Seven West Media. It will air five summer and winter Games between Paris 2024 and Brisbane 2032, across its print, television, digital and radio assets.
The challenge now is to pay for it – and the significant production costs that come with it. Marketing executives from two major Australian advertisers linked to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said advertising packages cost between $6 million and $8 million back then.
That event, broadcast by the Seven Network, were in a more favourable timezone and when interest rates
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