Nine puts a price on Winter Olympics as packages revealed
Nine has revealed its commercial and content plans for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, including pricing for its premium partner and sponsor offerings.
The Milano Cortina Games will kick off in February, featuring more than 50 Australian athletes that Nine says are “Australia’s best-ever Winter Olympics medal prospects”.
Nine secured the exclusive rights to the games as part of a multi-year deal signed in 2023. It cost Nine $305 million in cash, with $10 million in contra. The deal includes rights across all audio-visual platforms including free-to-air television, streaming and pay TV including subscription audio rights for linear broadcast, and non-exclusive rights for audio streaming.
Off the back of its record-breaking coverage of the Paris Olympics last year — which reached 19.5 million Australians, according to Oztam, and earned the company an IOC Golden Rings award — Nine has shared its plans across Total TV, Total Publishing, and Total Audio for the upcoming games.
Winter games kick off February 6, 2026
Commercially, Nine will be selling four premium partner packages as well as multiple smaller sponsor packages.
The partner packages will be available for $3.9 million, while sponsor deals are $2.9 million.
The limited partner opportunity will grant “unparalleled” access for brands, according to Andrew Cann, Nine’s director of sales for the games.
“There will be exclusive designs for maximum cut through,” he said at a launch event on Thursday. “Immersive, augmented branding, exclusive Married at First Sight crosses, guaranteed ‘hour of power’ placement, and premium audio and publishing assets.”
The sponsor tier will have a lesser presence than a partner, but Cann said it will still be prominent. Specific sponsorship opportunities include daily segments and medal tallies, among others.
Based in the “thick of the action” in the alpine village of Livigno, Nine’s coverage will feature ‘experts’ including past Winter Olympic gold medallists Steven Bradbury, Torah Bright, and Lydia Lassila, as well as current Olympians Britt Cox, Steph Prem, and Jono Brauer.
The full commentary and hosting team line-up will be announced in the coming months.
Former and current Olympians will feature as experts in Nine’s coverage
It will provide 24/7 coverage of the games, including on the 9 Network, 9 Now, and Stan Sport, and radio/audio.
Nine expects to reach “emotionally primed”, typically hard-to-reach audiences, with a consumer pulse survey finding 83% of 18-39 year olds expect to tune in to the games across its ecosystem.
Specifically, it predicted 60% of Australians to engage with Channel Nine, and 42% to engage with 9 Now.
Across publishing, it said it will see 13% of millennial readers engage with the SMH and the Age, while Gen X will be more likely to lean towards nine.com.au and the WWOS site at 30% and 26%, respectively. Nine said its audio offering will resonate more with the 45+ demographic, at 18%.
Anne Gruber, Nine’s director of content partnerships for the games, said for brands, there will be “unique appeal”.
“Brands associated are 33% more trusted,” she said at the launch event. “The proven reach of Nine’s full ecosystem creates a vast opportunity.”
She said brands see three times greater effectiveness at landing messages and driving consideration during the games, compared to normal sports sponsorships.
Nine’s Winter Games coverage will run from February 6-22, 2026, followed by the Paralympic Games from March 6-15, 2026.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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Many of the Winter Olympics Sports are downhill.
Seems like Nine’s income is doing the same thing, so they are “putting a price on Winter Olympics as packages”.
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Tell ’em they’re dreamin’
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