NEW YORK—NBCUniversal and Walmart said they are bringing new shoppable experiences and measurement capabilities to live sports coverage. Kicking off on Thanksgiving night with NBC’s Miami Dolphins-Green Bay Packers NFL telecast, the effort will allow viewers of both linear TV and streaming feeds to start their holiday shopping from the comfort of home.
The plans to bring live shopping to live sports builds on last year’s announcement that NBCUniversal and Walmart were testing the sales impact of ads in live-streamed sports telecasts. Walmart also served as the launch partner for NBCUniversal’s Must Shop TV.
“The power and reach of NBCUniversal’s sports portfolio is unmatched—bringing game-day action to life for fans and brands in a highly engaging and effective ecosystem,” NBCUniversal president, advertising and partnerships Alison Levin said. “By teaming up with the powerhouse of Walmart and Walmart Connect, we’re differentiating the viewer experience with a first-of-its-kind shoppable activation, while also amplifying real, cross-platform accountability for marketers on one of our biggest stages. This is the next era of advertising—the most compelling content, an innovative viewer experience and real, cross-platform reach and attribution.”
The two companies reported that viewers can easily shop directly on Walmart.com through an on-screen QR code and, for the first time ever, can use NBCUniversal’s new text-to-shop functionality in its Shop the Pod without missing a moment of content.
Beyond holiday deals, fans will also have the opportunity to shop from brands selling at Walmart. These advertisers will be provided with closed-loop measurement to attribute sales across linear and streaming media displayed during programming, through Walmart Connect and NBCUniversal’s data collaboration, the companies said.
Walmart will also feature a two-minute segment from its new advertisement campaign “Deals of Desire,” showcasing the retailer’s biggest holiday deals.
“Walmart customers love professional football—86% of surveyed customers told us they watch the games,” said Rich Lehrfeld, general manager and senior vice president of Walmart Connect. “The new advertising opportunities we’re introducing, powered by Walmart’s scale and reach, will be a game-changer in helping to solve the linear equation by tying our in-store purchase data to linear audiences.”
This collaboration will extend beyond Thanksgiving, Walmart and NBCU said.
