While the U.S. watches NBC Television’s coverage of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, NBCOlympics.com is banking that Web surfers visit the associated site. To sweeten the deal for consumers, and to sweeten the pot for itself, the company enlisted some high-profile offline and technology companies to sponsor and provide what they hope is eye-catching content.
Quokka Sports, NBC’s partner in the site, said NBCOlympics.com’s content-based partner package provides a wealth of branding opportunities for its partners, which include General Electric, General Motors, Ameritrade, Adidas, Anheuser Busch, IBM and VISA.
“With our Olympics coverage on NBCOlympics.com, we plan to change the way that Internet users will experience the Games and we hope to do the same for the way we present our key partners,” said Tom Newell, general manager of NBC/Quokka Ventures, the joint unit overseeing the game.
Although the site does incorporate banner ads, partners are also providing interactive games, sport analyses, and information profiling the Games’ host country and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the Olympics — ideally combining content and marketing opportunities.
Adidas’ sponsorship, for one, features educational content on weightlifting — as well as an Adidas e-commerce section.
Additionally, Ameritrade is running a contest through which users can build a “portfolio” of countries competing in the Olympics, with the portfolio with the most medals earning a chance at a fully funded Ameritrade cash account.
Ultimately, the sponsorships could prove fairly lucrative for the companies. With its decision to move beyond traditional advertising models, NBCOlympics.com’s partners are banking that the content proves stickier and generates longer viewing time than banner ads.