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NBC Sports is teaming up with Hollywood stars to promote its coverage of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Actor Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, Hit Man) will costar with speedskating phenom Jordan Stolz in a big-budget commercial premiering this weekend.
NBC’s celebrity integration of Powell mimics the network’s strategy from the 2024 Paris Olympics, which featured Peyton Manning, Lily Collins, and Megan Thee Stallion pitching crazy commercial concepts to dubious marketing executives from NBC. Manning’s pitch involved the former QB flying over Paris in a blimp shaped like a baguette. (Manning also cohosted the opening ceremony with Mike Tirico and Kelly Clarkson.) Collins, meanwhile, reprised her role from Netflix’s Emily in Paris, by proposing that sprinter Noah Lyles wear a flowing gold uniform in the 100-meter final.
Similarly, the new Powell spot will spoof action thrillers. Viewers will see Stolz racing for his life through various deadly obstacles while Powell screams, “Move, move, move. Get out of there!” But in the end, we see the scenario isn’t real. It’s actually Powell pitching his commercial idea to perplexed NBC suits in a conference room. “And that’s how you promote the Winter Olympics,” crows Powell.
NBC was looking for an action star who could bring the excitement and power of speedskating to life, says Joseph Lee, SVP of creative marketing, sports, and entertainment.
“It’s such an exciting race. It’s kind of the Winter Olympics version of track and field. We knew we had to do something special with Jordan. So we thought of an idea where we put him into an action-adventure scene—and bring in an action-adventure star,” Lee says. “Of course, Glen Powell—after Top Gun: Maverick, Twisters, and The Running Man—is our modern-day action adventure star.”
The timing and placement are also key. This weekend, NBC is poised to cash in on one of its most-watched sports weekends of the year, airing the 2025 Ryder Cup from Bethpage Black in New York from Friday to Sunday, the college football matchup between No. 6 Oregon and No. 3 Penn State on Big Ten Saturday Night, then Micah Parsons’s return to Dallas as the Cowboys host the Packers on Sunday Night Football.
The trio of big events is a microcosm of NBC’s projected billion-dollar month in February 2026, when the network will air three big events over the space of 17 days: Super Bowl LX, the Winter Olympics, and the 2026 NBA All-Star Game. Put them together and parent NBCUniversal is expected to book more than $1 billion in gross advertising revenue. The timing also works for Powell. His new Hulu comedy, Chad Powers, premieres Tuesday, Sept. 30.
During last week’s Tuned In event in New York, Betsy Riley, SVP and coordinating producer of NBC Olympics, outlined several reasons why the network has high hopes for the winter event after the Paris Games, which set an all-time record with 180 billion minutes watched across 17 days.
Team USA enters these Winter Olympics with one of its strongest lineups ever, Riley noted, citing athletes such as Stolz, Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn, Chloe Kim, and Ilia Malinin.
“We’re thinking about: How can we drive home what these incredible athletes are doing?” said Riley. “How can we help America feel really connected to these athletes?”
NBC has also signed NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson to lead Peacock’s first Gold Zone Winter Games coverage.
As Riley told the crowd at Tuned In: “The Olympic Gold Zone worked really well. Scott Hanson is back. We’re excited to have him back. We’re excited to have that offering again on Peacock. It’s the first time the Gold Zone will exist for the Winter Olympic Games.”
During the Paris Games, NBC also successfully used Saturday Night Live personalities like Colin Jost, Leslie Jones, Kenan Thompson, and Chloe Fineman to promote the event. SNL’s Fineman, for example, posted a parody of Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn (aka RayGun) to TikTok.
For the 2026 Games, NBC has also hired actor Stanley Tucci to provide travelogue segments on Italy. Expect to see “more celebrity-driven promotion” leading up to Milan, says an NBC spokesperson.
NBC would not confirm the participation of Snoop Dogg, who was a big hit with viewers last year as he flitted from event to event. But sources are optimistic he’ll return for Milan.
