As Nine ramps up to its second Olympic Games broadcast under its historic deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the network is promising an even more immersive, data-driven and creatively integrated commercial platform for brands during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Speaking with B&T at the launch event in Sydney’s Machine Hall yesterday, Anne Gruber, director of content partnerships, sport, and Andrew Cann, director of sales – Olympic & Paralympic Games, unpacked how Nine plans to build on its record-breaking Paris 2024 coverage.
With still seven months to go, Nine is focussed on creating long-term brand impact well before the Opening Ceremony. “The Road to Milan is a concept we originally introduced for Paris,” Gruber explained.
“It was designed to give brands the opportunity to tap into athlete stories and build momentum in the lead-up to the Games. We’ve worked closely across the business to bring that idea to life”.
The strategy includes themed programming, Olympic documentaries, and dedicated promo spots across Nine’s Total TV, audio and publishing platforms.
“It also gives brands an extended runway leading up to the Games, just like we did for Paris. Whether they’re IOC or non-IOC sponsors, it allows them to build a strong association with the Olympics and Paralympics early on. So by the time the Games begin, audiences are already familiar with those brands and their connection to the event,” Cann explained. “That’s where Nine’s full suite of platforms comes in, to showcase those partnerships across every channel”.
The Olympic broadcast will again span every inch of Nine’s media ecosystem, 9Now, Stan Sport, radio, digital, publishing, allowing short-form, long-form and catch-up content to live wherever Australians are consuming media.
“Each product we create is tailored to suit the platform and how audiences consume content there. By distributing Olympic and Paralympic content across all our platforms, TV, digital, audio, and publishing, we’re able to achieve the same scale and reach we saw with Paris. Whether someone’s tuning in on radio, catching highlights on 9Now or Stan Sport, or engaging with short-form or long-form content, our expansive coverage allows us to significantly amplify both our reach and impact,” said Cann.
Paris became a valuable test case for Nine’s cross-platform strategy, demonstrating how tailored content across every touchpoint could drive massive national engagement. Those insights have directly informed the network’s approach heading into Milano Cortina.
“Paris was a great opportunity for us, especially being a Summer Olympics, to test and refine our approach. All of our internal teams, particularly the editorial teams, learned a lot about how to collaborate effectively and tell stories across different platforms, while still tailoring them to suit each one. There were plenty of valuable lessons, and we’re building on those for Milano Cortina, just as we have with previous Games,” said Gruber
Winter sport comes with unique advantages, particularly for advertisers targeting younger Australians. “What all the research showed is that the appeal of the Winter Olympics is much, much younger,” Gruber explained. “The extremeness of what these athletes do and the following they already have is so different to a Summer Games. The consumption habits off the back of that are genuinely different”.
Unlike traditional sports with long, drawn-out seasons, the Olympic window offers a rare burst of high-impact opportunity for advertisers.
“It is different to other sporting events because of the high intensity in the period that it’s on… brands getting involved have the ability to reach volume and highly engaged eyeballs in a short window,” Cann explained.
Packages include both partner and sponsor tiers, with exclusive rights and scale varying across those tiers. That presence will stretch into popular programming like Married at First Sight, with Gruber confirming that “towards the back end of the episode, we’ll be crossing to Milano. Our partners and sponsors will be involved in that cross, and then commercials and what not will flow from there.”
Nine is also levelling up its broadcast technology. “We’re actually redesigning our studio,” Cann revealed. “We’ll have a studio in Livigno, where many Australian medal hopes are based, and we’ll use extended reality. That means the studio could look like anything, a house, a lodge, and you can have stats, athlete graphics and branding elements built in live”.
Gruber said this immersive integration is already driving results. “The ability to integrate brands within that virtual sense, without being too overt, gives us so much flexibility”.
And it’s not just creative innovation; Nine claims significant impact in effectiveness. “We looked at all of our entertainment, news and sport formats,” said Cann. “What actually came out for the Olympics was a three-times uplift in mid-funnel metrics, message agreement and consideration. That’s a genuine difference”.
As Nine marches toward Brisbane 2032, the upcoming Games are seen as a powerful opportunity to bring Australians together and position brands at the heart of the action.
“Australians can unite behind our athletes,” said Cann, “and brands can be part of that moment in a way that’s authentic, powerful, and platform-wide”.
