The broadcaster has booked $135 million in advertising revenue for Paris, which places it in good stead to turn a profit on the $300 million-plus it forked out for the broadcast and streaming rights to five Olympic Games culminating in Brisbane 2032.
Nine Entertainment’s bet on the Olympic and Paralympic Games appears to be paying early dividends, according to CEO Mike Sneesby.
The media company, which paid $305 million for extensive broadcast and streaming rights for five Olympic and Paralympic Games, has already booked $135 million in advertising for the Paris Games
“We’ve now written $135 million of revenue across the Olympic and Paralympic Games. From a revenue point of view, that now guarantees that Nine will be profitable on the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Sneesby told the Australian Financial Review.
“We’re taking into account all costs of the games, the production, the rights’ acquisition costs and all other associated costs involved.”
Nine has filled its premium ‘torch’ and ‘flame’ packages, which go for $12.5 million and $10.5 million each.
It has attracted the likes of Toyota, Woolworths, Harvey Norman and NRMA Insurance to the top-tier, while there is still Olympic and Paralympic inventory available in the casual market.
It has been previously reported by The Australian that the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games could cost Nine around $120 million, including $100 million alone for the IOC’s media rights.
Nine’s match-fit Olympic team
Helping Nine’s cause to be profitable is that it has the broadest range of Olympic and Paralympic rights in Australian broadcasting history, allowing advertisers to reach audiences on Nine’s linear TV and BVOD, the SVOD Stan, its radio stations (3AW, 4BC and 6PR) and its mastheads (Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and AFR).
Due to advances in technology, Nine is delivering far more games content (5000-plus hours of programming) with a leaner on-the-ground team at Paris than in previous games.
More than 200 Nine staffers will make the trip to Paris, with the majority (123) covering its TV production, 18 from Nine News, 18 from mastheads including the AFR, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and another 20 or so from Nine’s executive team.
When Nine last broadcast the London Olympics in 2012, it had a team of 254 people to produce 300 hours of live sport.
In recent cycles, it has been rare for broadcasters to make a profit on their Olympics and Paralympics coverage. Seven’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 broke TV audience records but still led to a $50 million loss.
The value in broadcasting the games are not just reflected in the P&L. Often they are viewed by senior executives as a springboard to lift programming across network slate during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and to promote programming for the rest of the year. There is also a level of prestige in being associated with the Olympic rings and bringing great national sporting moments into living rooms across Australia.
Any profit from Paris would provide Nine would be a positive shot in the arm in a total TV advertising market that declined, year-on-year, by 10.4 per cent in May.
It also would come against a backdrop of sweeping job cuts at Nine and its rival media companies Seven West Media and News Corp.
