The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday at 2:00 PM Eastern Time (3:00 AM Beijing Time on February 7). For stock market investors, the Winter Games represent a major exposure event for global broadcasters, streaming platforms, digital advertising firms, sportswear and beverage brands, and select Italian companies.
The Milan-Cortina Olympics will run from February 6 to February 22, 2026. NBC holds the exclusive U.S. broadcast rights. Comcast's NBCUniversal platform will distribute coverage via NBC, Peacock, USA, and CNBC. By bundling the Olympics with the Super Bowl LX broadcast, it creates one of the largest single-event-driven advertising platforms in history for a single weekend. Notably, Olympic advertising inventory sold out well in advance, and viewership on Comcast's streaming service Peacock has already begun to rise significantly as the event nears.
In Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery can leverage its long-term agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through the Eurosport and Discovery+ platforms, while also benefiting from additional reach via free-to-air television channels from members of the European Broadcasting Union, such as the BBC.
On the sponsorship front, long-term Olympic partners like Procter & Gamble, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Nike, and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will gain global brand exposure through tailored marketing campaigns. Milan-Cortina also boasts a deep roster of Italian corporate sponsors, including Enel, Eni, Intesa Sanpaolo, Poste Italiane, Leonardo, Stellantis, TIM, EA7 Emporio Armani, Pirelli, ITA Airways, Technogym, and Esselunga. Some Wall Street analysts anticipate a moderate tailwind for the local hotel and tourism hospitality sector, with potential effects extending beyond the Games.
In apparel and fashion, U.S. casualwear leader Ralph Lauren will outfit Team USA, while athletic brand leader Lululemon will outfit Team Canada. EA7 Emporio Armani will support the Italian delegation. Notably, Columbia Sportswear will provide custom-designed competition uniforms for the U.S. Curling Team and sell replica versions to fans. Salomon, owned by Amer Sports, is expected to supply a significant volume of volunteer gear. Skims, owned by Kim Kardashian, is also expected to gain attention through Olympics-related fashion collaborations.
Major sports betting operators like FanDuel, BetMGM, and DraftKings are anticipated to see a boost in wagers during the first quarter, as the same quarter last year lacked a comparable major sporting event. Analysts generally believe U.S. betting leader DraftKings is in a stronger growth position due to its media partnership with NBC.
Within the travel sector, Wall Street firm KeyBanc Capital Markets views the Olympics as an incremental positive factor for global short-term rental leader Airbnb, Expedia, and Booking Holdings. RBC Capital Markets expects global digital payments leader Visa to benefit significantly, citing the potential for "high-value-added service revenue growth" to outpace overall consumer spending trends. Some blockchain and digital payments experts suggest that if Visa capitalizes on this momentum to expand its stablecoin initiatives, the combined "Visa + stablecoin" payment network could demonstrate high synergies. Visa reportedly used USDC to settle VisaNet obligations as early as 2023, becoming the first global digital payments network to integrate stablecoins into its core clearing system. Its Visa Token Service, connected to on-chain smart contracts, enables stablecoin payments to be embedded into automated settlement and fund allocation processes.
Concurrently, Figs has linked its narrative to skier Lindsay Vonn's attempt to compete in alpine skiing with an ACL injury, stemming from a long-term collaboration between the two.