Gamestime Intelligence from Onboard Sports Advisory
With Onboard Sports Advisory on the ground in Italy and colleagues across our global offices supporting in real time, OBE is closely tracking the most important, dynamic, and conversation-shaping stories emerging from the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games.
TOP HEADLINES
Americans at the Olympics Can’t Escape the Politics at Home (NYT, 2/8)
The Olympic Opening Ceremony in Milan Brought Good Vibes. It’s About Time. (Time, 2/6)
BUSINESS, MARKETING & SPONSORSHIP
There's A New Starbucks Drink Hiding In The App For Olympics Season (Delish, 2/7)
Olympic tourists in Cortina can explore the Dolomites with the new 'Uber Snowmobile' service (Independent, 2/7)
With AI Mode, Google aims to feed curiosities during 2026 Olympics (USA Today, 2/6)
On the ground in Milan: Inside Samsung House (SBJ, 2/6)
FANS, CONTENT & MEDIA
Snoop Meets Tucci in Milan: Behind NBCU’s Creator Blitz at the Winter Olympics (The Hollywood Reporter, 2/5)
Milano Cortina Winter Olympics: A Celebration of Italian Style, Sport, Design, Creativity (WWD, 2/6)
SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
Breezy Johnson wins Olympic downhill in race marred by Vonn crash (ESPN, 2/8)
2026 Winter Olympics poll: Figure skating, snowboarding draw most fan interest (ESPN, 2/6)
An Ilia Malinin Olympic blitz delivers U.S. team figure skating gold (The Athletic, 2/8)
FUTURE OF THE MOVEMENT
French Alps Set To Host Historic 2030 Winter Olympics (Grand Pinnacle Tribune, 2/7)
Switzerland 2038 bid gets first private backer, Team GB secures Options (Sportcal 2/5)
OSA Gamestime Observation
THE POWER OF OLYMPIC OUT-OF-HOME
One of the key indicators of Olympic Games "buzz" is the prevalence of out-of-home advertising throughout Milan — from airport arrivals to highway spectaculars to digital signage. Shown here is an OOH placement located outside of Milano Centrale railway station, rotating quickly from a TCL Milano Cortina 2026 message to one for VISA; similar scenes were repeated across Milan.
LOOKING AHEAD AT LA28
As OOH evolves to keep pace with shortened attention spans, brands must be intentional about owning the right mix of digital and static inventory across SoCal to achieve dynamism and flexibility, as well as OOH's traditional goal of high-impact visibility.