NBCUniversal continues to rack up wins from its sports-heavy February.
This week, NBCU announced it had secured the highest-grossing ad sales in Super Bowl history for Super Bowl 60. Fox previously held the record for Super Bowl 59, reporting more than $800 million in revenue across Fox and Tubi.
NBCU didn’t reveal the final numbers; however, they will likely be announced during its next earnings call in the spring.
The news isn’t a huge surprise. Ahead of the game on Feb. 8, ADWEEK reported that “a handful” of NBCU’s 30-second Super Bowl spots were going for $10 million or more. It was the first time a broadcaster had reached that threshold.
Mark Marshall, NBCU’s ad sales president, previously told ADWEEK that ad sales reached those historic figures due to market demand as well as NBCU creating packages to allow advertisers to have inventory across its February sports events, which included the Super Bowl, the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics, and the NBA All-Star Game. Because of this, NBCU had around 70% of advertisers investing across multiple events.
“While I would love to say it’s brilliant strategy and execution, part of it is just the marketplace demand,” Marshall previously told ADWEEK. “We did start earlier this year than in years past. There was so much interest in the Super Bowl and the Olympics, so we went to the marketplace earlier with packages that would include both of them.”
In addition to the Super Bowl record, NBCU announced in January that the Winter Olympics had also set a new ad-sales revenue record while also reaching an early sellout.
Among NBCU’s additional February highlights for what it calls its “Legendary February,” the company said more than 250 unique advertisers were represented across Super Bowl LX, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, and NBA All-Star Weekend. Of those companies, 60% were new from 2022, the last time NBCU had the Super Bowl and Winter Olympic Games together. Plus, more than 80 advertisers had custom marketing programs.
Additionally, the bundling worked, according to NBCU. The company reported that its Legendary February events reached more than 215 million people, and Olympic viewers who watched all three Legendary February events were 53% more likely to engage with brands.
According to the company, NBC more than doubled (2.1x) the search engagements for brands when compared to the period around the 2024 Paris Olympics. The events also had a halo effect for Peacock, with NBCU saying the streamer had its “best week ever in digital consumption and reach.”
“Legendary February reflects the strength of NBCUniversal’s portfolio and the enduring power of premium, live storytelling at scale,” Marshall said in a statement on the announcements. “By bringing together culture-defining moments across sports and entertainment, we’ve created a record-breaking marketplace that proves the future of advertising is built on connection, community, and shared experiences.”
