By: Joe Wisniewski
September 16, 2024
Photo Credit: Paralympic.org
The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games were a monumental event in the sports broadcasting space. For the first time in Paralympic history, all 22 sports were broadcasted live, signaling the growing popularity and visibility of parasports on a global stage. With over 225 broadcasters and digital platforms providing more than 1,450 hours of live coverage, the Paris 2024 Paralympics marked a new high for media access. This leap from the 19 sports covered at Tokyo 2020 highlights the increasing audience for parasports action.
Key broadcast partners - such as France Télévisions, Channel 4 (UK), and NBC (U.S.) - ensured a widespread reach of Paralympics live programming, helping achieve a projected global audience over the 4.1 billion mark reached by the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games. In the U.S., NBC pushed innovation with new features such as “Gold Zone”, which offered viewers live highlights across all events. For the first time, NBC has sent on-site hosts with disabilities to the Paralympics, a new level of representation for the event. The network also streamed a record 1,500 hours of Paralympics content on Peacock, complementing 140 hours of TV coverage across NBC, USA Network, and CNBC. In addition to traditional broadcast methods, social media has become a key tool in expanding the reach of the Paralympic Games. The IPC’s TikTok account has grown to over 4.5 million followers, gaining 250,000 in just two weeks thanks to viral content that emphasizes the competitive nature of the athletes.
NBC’s decision to make ad access easier for brands through direct and programmatic sales led to a record number of new partners and 60% increase in ad sales compared to Tokyo 2020. Long-term Paralympic sponsor Toyota remained a key player, continuing its support for Paralympic athletes by providing vehicles and grants, despite pulling back from Olympic sponsorship. Visa strengthened its commitment by sponsoring 46 athletes globally, while Procter & Gamble leveraged its presence to elevate its brands. These corporate partnerships illustrate how brands are embracing the Paralympics not just as a marketing opportunity, but as a platform for inclusivity and social change.
The expanded media presence drew significant interest from global brands, many of which focused on inclusivity rather than just commercial exposure. Nike and Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) are examples of two brands who offered direct support to Paralympians. Nike created the Nike Athlete House in Paris, providing spaces for the athletes to rest and recover. The luxury brand LVMH, an official Paralympic partner, staged a series of events that focused on disability inclusion within the fashion industry. By not only promoting the games, but inclusion, brands like Nike and LVMH are helping reshape global narratives around disability and athletics.
As Paris hands over the Paralympic flag to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games, the momentum from Paris 2024 is expected to carry over. The increasing media exposure, coupled with strong corporate partnerships, suggests that the Paralympics are entering a new era of universal visibility and commercial success. By promoting inclusion and showcasing world class athletic excellence, the Paralympics are poised to grow even further as a global sporting event.
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