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SBP Snack Week of 7/29-8/4 (Olympics Edition!)
Alex Abrams
August 01, 2024
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Good Thursday Morning. Bringing you an Olympics-focused, “snack size” version of SBP this week.
Five Interesting, Funny, and Touching Things that Happened in Sports the Olympics This Week
#1: NBC’s Olympics coverage gets back on track, which means mega bucks
First 3 nights of the Paris Olympics are putting up monster numbers—so much so that NBCU in a few days may start selling off the inventory that had been held back for possible ADUs. (NBC raked in a bonus $200M when this happened in 2012.)
Fri: 28.6M viewers
Sat: 32.4M
Sun: 41.5M— Anthony Crupi (@crupicrupicrupi)
9:45 PM • Jul 29, 2024
NBCUniversal says it will surpass a record $1.25 billion in ad sales tied to the Paris Olympics, the most ever in its coverage of the games.
@colincsalao on what's driving the surge ⬇️
— Front Office Sports (@FOS)
2:55 PM • Jul 31, 2024
🗯️ My thought bubble: NBC has had a tough go of it with its Olympics coverage really dating back to 2018 due to challenging time zone differences, a global pandemic, and geopolitical tensions.
That did not dissuade them though, as they agreed to pay $7.6 billion for the rights to the Olympics from 2022-2032. But with a string of tough luck, they needed this year to go well.
And, so far so good based on the record ad sales. In addition, a few other interesting factoids, per SBJ:
$500 million from first time sponsors
Digital ad has doubled from the Tokyo Games
Total number of advertisers has more than doubled from the Tokyo and Rio Games combined
On top of this year’s event, a strong location for the ‘26 Winter Games in Milan and the looming behemoth of the LA28 Games mean NBC is anticipating a string of major successes. Expect to also see positive results for Peacock, NBC’s streaming provider, that becomes a one-stop shop for coverage during these events.
#2: This is the ultimate win-win partnership
Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa just won a silver medal in Team All-Around.
She's also an ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano 🧀
— Front Office Sports (@FOS)
5:31 PM • Jul 31, 2024
#3: Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast ever, one of the greatest Olympians ever, and she kept receipts
In a league of her own 🐐
@Simone_Biles is the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history!
#ParisOlympics
— Team USA (@TeamUSA)
6:33 PM • Jul 30, 2024
A composite of @Simone_Biles' floor routine
— Sportico (@Sportico)
5:18 PM • Jul 30, 2024
Incredible photo of Simone Biles from the team final
📷by Naomi Baker/Getty
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids)
5:41 PM • Jul 31, 2024
Former Team USA gymnast MyKayla Skinner criticized Team USA’s Olympic roster ahead of the 2024 Paris games then BLOCKED Simone Biles on social media after she won gold…
Safe to say she found out 😅
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport)
9:22 PM • Jul 31, 2024
#4 Celebrities getting involved in growing women’s sports 🤌
Michele Kang has announced a $4 million gift to the USA Women’s Rugby program.
Following their first Olympic medal, this gift will go toward the growth of women’s rugby, supporting athletes and coaches in the National program.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS)
10:33 PM • Jul 30, 2024
Flava Flav is sponsoring the USA Women's water polo team, who's won 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals, so that the team members don't have to keep working multiple jobs just to support themselves while they're also training.
— Women Posting W's (@womenpostingws)
9:03 PM • Jul 27, 2024
🗯️ My thought bubble: This is huge not only because of the immediate impact on the current teams and players, but also the potential long-term implications of having those sports grow due to the increased exposure and new habitual behavior of celebrities investing in underfunded sports to make sure Olympians are compensated and receive their much-deserved attention/praise for representing their country.
#5: Surfing in French Polynesia produces unbelievable footage, one of the hardest pictures of all time, and a comedian’s hilariously painful pivot into sportscasting
Huge shoutout to whoever decided to host the Olympic surfing competition 10,000 miles away from Paris in Teahupo'o 👏
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano)
12:50 PM • Jul 30, 2024
From @TheAthletic: Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina scored a historic 9.90, the highest single wave score in Olympic history, advancing to the men's quarterfinals. A photographer tracking him produced an iconic photo: nyti.ms/46pGIem
— The New York Times (@nytimes)
11:00 AM • Jul 30, 2024
"I'm Colin Jost, this is my job." 😂🏄♂️
Looks like our #ParisOlympics surfing reporter is enjoying his assignment.
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics)
5:47 PM • Jul 28, 2024
It’s constantly hard to tell if Colin Jost covering Olympic surfing in Tahiti is an SNL sketch or a serious journalism assignment
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband)
4:31 PM • Jul 29, 2024
Until next time, sports fans!
-Alex