Media giant Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA) could have a 2026 to remember as the company navigates the coveted time period of having rights to the 2026 Winter Olympics, NFL games, NBA games and the Super Bowl at the same time.
With shares up around 15% year-to-date in 2026, there could be more upside coming from future quarterly results.
• Comcast stock is trading in a tight range. What’s the outlook for CMCSA shares?
2026 Winter Olympics Viewership Rises
Anyone who tuned into Super Bowl LX saw multiple ads from Comcast highlighting the company's media rights to the 2026 Winter Olympics in the U.S.
The media company has exclusive U.S. to the Summer and Winter Olympics through 2036.
After posting weaker-than-normal viewership figures for the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, early viewership for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy are up for Comcast.
The first two days of the 2026 Winter Olympics saw a 60% increase in viewers for Comcast compared to the first two days of the 2022 games, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The Opening Ceremony on Friday saw 21.4 million viewers across live and replay, up 34% to the 2022 games. This includes around three million viewers on streaming platform Peacock.
On Saturday, the Winter Olympics had 28.5 million viewers across Comcast's networks, up from 14.8 million for the comparative day in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The day ranked as the best Winter Olympic viewership day since a day midway through the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Peacock had 4.1 million viewers on Saturday for Winter Olympics coverage. Viewers watched 1.3 billion minutes on that day alone, compared to 34.3 billion total minutes of coverage watched on Peacock for the entire 2022 Winter Olympics.
Sports Dominance Could Boost Comcast
The strong start to the 2026 Winter Olympics, which may be boosted by a less impactful time difference to China in 2022, could help boost Comcast in an already strong seasonality of sports.
The company recently added NBA games for the first time in 24 years, with rights to games in the 2025-2026 season.
Comcast is also a key NFL partner and the company saw strong viewership for Sunday Night Football games during the 2025 season.
Super Bowl LX aired on NBC and Peacock on Sunday, Feb. 8. Official viewership figures have not been released yet. Viewership is expected to be close to records.
Comcast charged $8 million to $10 million per 30-second ad and the company saw strong demand for ads ahead of the game, which means the official viewership could have minimal impact on its revenue from the game.
Still, being a record breaker is a great stat to have and could help Comcast sell ads for its other sports content throughout 2026 and going forward.
Comcast Stock Price Action
Comcast stock closed Tuesday up 2.21% to $32.31 versus a 52-week trading range of $24.12 to $35.83. Comcast shares are up around 15% year-to-date in 2026.
Photo: kovop via Shutterstock
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