NBC is betting the Olympics will give Peacock a boost

This year, Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, is airing the entirety of the Summer Olympics for the first time. And execs are betting it’ll give the streamer a Mario Kart-mushroom-style boost.

The playbook: Purchase the rights to a live sporting event, then host said event behind a paywall on Peacock, allowing those without a cable TV subscription (an increasing number of Americans) to pay and watch it.

After that? Try like hell to keep ‘em onboard.

So far, so good. In January 2024, Peacock became the first platform to exclusively host an NFL playoff game, a matchup between the Chiefs and Dolphins. The game required a paid subscription to watch (no free trial), and drove nearly three million new signups to Peacock – with 71% of these users remaining subscribers through the end of February 2024.

• The Paris Summer Olympics have the potential to be just as big, if not bigger. A majority of US consumers are expecting to tune in, with 60% likely to stream the Games and 47% planning to watch on traditional TV, according to a recent Numerator survey with 10,000+ responses.

👀 Get caught up: The Paris Olympics officially kicked off on Friday with the Opening Ceremony (which was watched by ~29 million people, the most since 2012). Since then, we've seen a stunning rugby upset, the US win its first gold, a Canadian women’s soccer cheating scandal, Simone Biles put on a show (despite tweaking her left calf), and hoops phenom Victor Wembanyama make his Olympic debut.

Follow all the Olympic action here.