Olympics Boosts Total July Ad Spend

Money
(Image credit: Getty)

New data from Guideline indicates that the Olympics had a notable impact on the U.S. ad market in July even though only first five days of the Olympics aired in July. Overall, Guideline reported that the US ad market saw a nearly 14% increase YoY in July 2024, the strongest month in the 15th consecutive month of marketplace expansion, with the 5 days of July Olympics accounting for 43% of the all media July ad growth.  

While the July ad spend grew 14% YoY including the Olympics, it increased by only 8% without.  

Linear TV benefited the most, with National TV up 10% YoY with the Olympics; excluding Olympics it would have been down 7% YoY

Meanwhile digital media was up 18% YoY in July; excluding Olympics it would have still risen by a healthy 15% YoY.

The impact of the Olympics in the July ad spend indicates that the games will have an even larger impact in August, when the games continued until August 11, Guidline reported. 

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.