Nine has announced its commercial packages for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
The broadcaster entered into an agreement with the International Olympic Committee for exclusive rights for the 2024 to 2032 Olympic and Winter Olympic games for A$305 million with $10 million in contra.
Following its record-breaking coverage of the Paris Olympics, which reached 19.5 million Australians according to Oztam and earned the company an IOC Golden Rings Award, Nine has shared its plans for the next Winter Olympics.
Nine also saw a significant boost in ad spend from the Summer Olympics broadcast last year according to media agency booking numbers via SMI Guideline.
Nine director of sales, Andrew Cann told AdNews the media giant will be selling four partner packages as well as sponsor packages.
“Being a partner means you have your solus brand [on] promos, billboards, and premium integration assets. That’s the premium level package,” he said.
“Sponsor is a level down from that and has a little bit less of a presence than a partner but is still prominent in the broadcast.”
Commercial packages allow for cross-platform opportunities from daily segments and medal tallies to immersive activations of branded content.
Partner packages will be available from $3.9 million and sponsor packages will be $2.9 million.
Cann said there had already been plenty of interest in the packages.
“What we did with Paris, and the results we achieved for our partners and sponsors, really showcased the power of the Olympic Games, and the power of Nine’s ability to bring the event to life,” he said.
“There is strong interest not only from the brands involved last time, but also from others who saw the impact of what we achieved [in] Paris and want to be part of the Olympic Games.”
While the Winter Games normally don’t garner as much attention as the Summer Games, Nine is still confident it will deliver for its brands.
“Brands associated are 33% more trusted,” Nine’s director of content partnerships for the Games, Anne Gruber, said at the launch party.
“The proven reach of Nine’s full ecosystem creates a vast opportunity.”
A consumer pulse survey found that 83% of 18-39 year olds are expected to tune into the Games across Nine’s ecosystem. Specifically, it predicted 60% of Australians to engage with Channel Nine and 42% with 9Now.
