For years there was talk of an “Olympic Network,” one that specialized in all Olympic events, all the time. The move to alternating winter/summer years gave even more opportunity, and eventually Universal Sports moved into that void to try and capture, with a wide footprint but limited marketing resources, to capture that series of niche audiences. Now with the NBC Sports Network now fully branded and in place (with the coverage that Versus had and the marketing spend of NBC) there is more of an opportunity for key Olympic leadup events to go front and center. The announcement of the large scale coverage of the U.S. Olympic Trials this spring gives many sports leverage that they haven’t had before, and puts forward the ability to effectively tell the stories of many athletes to the widest possible audience really for the first time.
The USOC is again ramping up their advance promo work, starting full bore with their 100 days countdown later this month, but also through a series of new and innovative projects through their key sponsors that will highlight a wide swath of athletes and their stories through the trials and into London this summer.
So with all this support, can the promotions still falter in the eyes of the casual fan? Yes. How is that possible? Because even with help at the highest level, ample sponsor support and the best TV platform ever, the governing bodies need to invest more time in telling the stories of the athletes, and then merchandising that success and those stories together to the widest possible audience. Athletes do live in silos sometimes, and so do sports. However the common ground of competition…from colleges and universities to hometowns to common hobbies…should pull coverage together instead of create competition for the same space. Brands have seen the value in pulling together athletes to work with from diverse backgrounds, both Olympians and Paralympians. The stories feed off each other and that builds a solid broad based program for media of all kinds. They are stories people love, and loyalties that will be built leading up to the games. Who are the leading Hispanic athletes and what can they do together? What about 10 athletes who can cook or 10 who may be parents? On the social media side all the tweeting and posting is great and should be encouraged, but working cohesively to cross promote will gin more followers, more traction and even more value.
Working together, with the NBC platform at the core, will be an Olympian effort for sure, but by doing so, with the focus on what NBC has built to assist, the year-round health of the movement will continue to grow as partners in sport, not so much as opponents.
