It's amazing how much of a spin networks can put on a simple press release. NBC had been receiving some bad press as of late for not coming close to selling out their advertising spots for the Olympics, but they want you to know they're okay. They're 90% sold! With all the time in the world to finish before the Games start!

NBC Olympics has sold 90 percent of its advertising inventory for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, on pace to shatter records from past Olympics. NBC Universal has set a revenue target north of $1 billion for the 2008 Games. The announcement was made today by Seth Winter, SVP Sales, NBC Sports & Olympics.

"Advertisers across all categories are recognizing the power of premium content and the strength of the Olympic brand, particularly in an increasingly fragmented media landscape," said Winter. "Live sports continues to resonate with viewers, and advertisers know the Olympics are one of the best ways to reach an engaged mass audience."

Among the categories seeing the most movement in recent weeks are corporate imaging, consumer electronics, movies and retail, spurred by back-to-school advertising. Winter cited recent momentum from NBC's primetime coverage of the U.S. Olympics Trials for Swimming, Gymnastics and Track & Field, which saw ratings increases over 2004 and featured buzz worthy performances from marquee athletes such as Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, Tyson Gay and Shawn Johnson.

Well I'm glad that crisis is diverted. What's that? The Olympics start in two weeks??? Oh. I guess that slipped my mind. So they still have $100 million dollars worth of spots to fill in that time frame with all the big advertisers on board? Gotcha.

The largest package that NBC sells is apparently $10 million and the smallest a $500K deal (according to the deals offered Barack Obama), so it's not out of the realm of possibility. It's not likely though.

(Via NBC PR)