The Big Money Behind The Winter Olympics In Pyeongchang

Welcome to a Winter Olympics edition of the Full-Court Finance podcast from Zacks Investment Research. On this week’s episode, we explore the companies driving the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The next two weeks are massively important for NBC Universal and its parent company Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) , as the media conglomerate has spent billions of dollars to broadcast the Olympics for years to come.

NBC outbid Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA) and Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) ABC and ESPN to earn its domestic broadcast rights. The company has since sought to innovate its coverage through a recent streaming push and future-looking partnerships with firms such as Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP).

One of the main reasons NBC can justify spending this money is because advertisers are willing to shell out the cash to promote their brands during the global athletic showcase. This year, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) , Famers Insurance, Hershey (NYSE:HSY) , and many others are official NBC partners.

But there are also 13 top dogs: the firms that spend over $100 million to become official International Olympic Committee sponsors. This list includes Visa (NYSE:V) , Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) , Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) , and General Electric (NYSE:GE) , along with recently added tech giants Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) —which will give fans a taste of its virtual reality capabilities from Pyeongchang.

The Olympics are also a time for companies and apparel brands to attach themselves to athletes. Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) outfitted Team USA with gear for the opening ceremonies, while medal winners will sport Nike (NYSE:NKE) on the podiums. Even Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) got back in the action after some athletes panned its gear in 2014.

And this year’s games were awarded to South Korea, due in large part to a push from the former head of one of the world’s most well-known technology companies. Make sure to check out the show to hear more!

If you have any questions about this episode of Full-Court Finance please feel free to shoot us an email over at podcast@zacks.com. Please also make sure to check out all of our other podcasts at zacks.com/podcast, and remember to subscribe and leave a rating on iTunes.

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