New York: NBCUniversal has sold out all advertising inventory for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy nearly a month before the Games begin in early February, the Comcast-owned broadcaster announced.
More than 100 new advertisers have signed on for the Milano Cortina Games, making it the biggest broadcast and digital revenue generator in Winter Olympics history and the highest-grossing Winter Olympics of all time, according to NBCUniversal.
The Winter Games will kick off an exceptionally busy February sports broadcasting schedule for NBCUniversal, which also includes coverage of the 60th Super Bowl and the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Weekend. The company said that the advertising slots across all three major sporting events have been completely sold out.
Peter Lazarus, Executive Vice President of NBC Sports & Olympics, Advertising and Partnerships, said the company is seeing unprecedented demand. Lazarus noted that, for the first time in NBCUniversal’s history, the broadcaster has officially sold out its advertising inventory so far in advance of the events.
Live sports continue to be a powerful draw for advertisers at a time when overall marketing budgets across the media industry are under pressure. This has fuelled intense competition among broadcasters and platforms seeking rights to major global sporting events.
The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will run from February 6 to 22, with competitions held in Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, and several other venues across Italy. The opening ceremony is expected to feature performances by internationally renowned artists, including Mariah Carey and Laura Pausini.
NBCUniversal also highlighted the growing shift toward digital advertising. More than 85 per cent of the company’s Olympic brand partners are investing in digital platforms, while adoption of advertising innovations on its streaming service, Peacock, has risen by 31 per cent compared with the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
In addition, the broadcaster said it continues to expand its sports content reach. In November 2025, NBCUniversal launched the NBC Sports Network as part of a strategy to tap into established pay-TV audiences while broadening the distribution of its sports programming across platforms.
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