NEW YORK — Television ad sales for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August are on pace to exceed the $1 billion spent during the London Olympics four years ago.
NBC executive Seth Winter says several deals done over the past two months put ad sales on pace for an Olympic record. Digital ad sales are expected to rise 50 percent from London as more people watch TV on smartphones and tablets.
Advertisers are coming from a range of industries including automotive, technology and health care.
The update echoes Winter’s prediction last year that NBC expected to exceed the numbers from the London games. Winter is executive vice president for sports advertising sales at NBCUniversal, a division of Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp.
The Olympics open Aug. 5 and run through Aug. 21.