• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 23, 2024

Brands looking to connect with sports enthusiasts who seek out the latest news, scores and highlights on Microsoft products have new opportunities this summer.

Microsoft this week launched an in-market audience powered by Microsoft audience intelligence that lets marketers reach the consumers that show interest in sports, specifically the Olympics 2024 summer games in Paris.

The signals come from a variety of online behaviors such as searches, clicks, content preference, and page views. The list is live in the audience platform and found in the sports category at Summer Games 2024.

Microsoft estimates 49 million use Microsoft Start to stay up to date with the latest sports news, 41% are more likely to express interest in following the summer games, 31% are more likely to watch summer game highlights online, and 28% are more likely to express interested in watching sports online year-round.

The summer games in Paris scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11, are expected to attract billions of viewers globally across TV and streaming services. 

As of April 2024, NBCUniversal had already sold $1.2 billion in ad commitments for the games, and is on track to set a new ad revenue record, according to Forbes. 

Peacock also will stream all 329 medal events across 5,000 hours.

This week, Hyundai in a press released announced a campaign highlighting its entire electric vehicle lineup, including Ioniq 5, Ioniq 5 N, Ioniq 6 and Kona Electric. The campaign features a 60-second and two 30-second broadcast hero spots that launched in mid-May and will continue running throughout the summer in placements during events such as the Olympics, MLB games and the NBA playoffs.