Could The 2020 Olympics See Record Profits For Comcast?
The highly anticipated 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo are set to premiere in July after a COVID-19 related delay. The Summer Olympics could mean big money for NBC and its parent company Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA). What Happened: At a recent presentation, NBC said the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics (July 23 to Aug. 8) could be the most profitable for the company. Depending on how ratings are, it could be our most profitable Olympics in the history of the company, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said. Prior to the pandemic, the company had sold $1.25 billion in advertisements, seeing strong demand from many sectors. The interest is due to many of the U.S. Olympians favored in their events and sports, which could help with strong viewership. NBC plans more than 7,000 hours of programming for broadcast, cable and its Peacock streaming platform. The Peacock streaming platform for NBC will also launch coverage of some of the best female Olympians from the 1996 Summer Olympics. This includes The 96 Effect, a three-part docuseries following women who won gold medals. Peacock will also stream the U.S. Womens National Soccer Team final game, which has never been televised, alongside The Sisters of 96: The 1996 USA Womens Soccer Olympic Team, which will reunite some of the soccer stars to watch the match together. Related Link: Why Comcast Could Be Ready To Cash In On Hulu Stake With Disney  Why Its Important: NBC called the 2016 Summer Olympics the most successful media event in history with $250 million in profit for the company. An average of 27.5 million people tuned into Primetime Olympics coverage in 2016, representing the second-highest primetime audience for any non-U.S. Summer Olympics. Records were set for the 18 to 34 and 18 to 49 adult demographics in 2016. Seventy-eight percent of U.S. homes tuned into NBC for Olympics coverage in 2016. The inclusion of Olympics coverage on cable networks owned by Comcast also boosted their viewership, including NBCSN being the No. 1 sports cable network for primetime viewers over a 14-day period during the Olympics. Comcast paid $4.4 billion for the U.S. rights to the Olympics from 2014 to 2020, representing around $1.1 billion per Olympics. The companys renewal for the Olympics rights from 2021 to 2032 was for $7.75 billion, representing $1.3 billion per Olympics. The 2016 Olympics coverage from Comcast featured 6,755 hours of content, which is expected to be passed this year and could help viewer figures. While the 2020 Summer Olympics will be missing several high-profile athletes such as Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, it could see strong viewership for returning athletes like Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and others. Simone Biles is just amazing. Shes going to be on every night and then our swimming team is really strong and our track and field team is really strong, Shell said. The results from the Olympics along with the guidance of advertising demand could be keys to watch when Comcast reports second-quarter earnings in July and third-quarter results in October. CMCSA Price Action: Shares of Comcast are down 1.41% to $56.71 on Friday. Shares have traded between $37.77 and $59.11 over the last 52 weeks. (Photo: Olympic Games)