8 consecutive nights of 'Dream Team' games in their entirety beginning Monday
Xfinity, the residential cable service brand of Comcast, will be the presenting sponsor of "Dream Team Week" on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, both parties announced Wednesday. The agreement, which begins on Aug. 28, includes Xfinity branding within billboards, bumpers, opens and closes, as well as presenting sponsorship status during Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA's eight nights of "Dream Team" broadcasts, live streams, and social media content.
This is the first presenting sponsorship for the Olympic Channel, which launched July 15.
The new TV network is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with "Dream Team Week," presenting all eight original broadcasts on eight consecutive nights in primetime, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET Monday, and culminating with an 11-hour Labor Day marathon on Monday, Sept. 4, that concludes with the 1992 gold medal final against Croatia.
"As a result of this partnership with Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, Xfinity will be the proud beneficiary of associating its brand with the 'Dream Team,' one of the most iconic teams in the history of sports," said Paul Wilson, SVP, ad sales, NBC Olympics. " 'Dream Team Week' is the perfect example of the unique and powerful associations that this new all-family network can provide to advertisers."
"Xfinity has become a destination for sports entertainment and we're thrilled to be associated with the rebroadcast of one of the most iconic Olympic teams of all time," said Matt Lederer, executive director of sports marketing at Comcast.
Comcast is an official partner of the U.S. Olympic Committee through 2020.
The 1992 Barcelona Olympics marked the first time NBA players could participate in Olympic basketball. The "Dream Team" is widely credited with dramatically increasing basketball's popularity around the world, and was collectively inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. Eleven of the 12 players on the team are in the Basketball Hall of Fame as individuals, as well as three of the team's four coaches. The "Dream Team" defeated its eight opponents in 1992 by an average of 44 points en route to the gold medal, and won every game by at least 30 points.
The full "Dream Team" roster consisted of: Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John Stockton.
Chuck Daly served as head coach, alongside assistant coaches P.J. Carlesimo, Mike Krzyzewski and Lenny Wilkens.
Every "Dream Team" game from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics will feature the original commentary teams that called the action. Marv Albert led NBC's basketball coverage in 1992 alongside analyst Mike Fratello and reporter Quinn Buckner, while Chick Hearn and Steve Jones provided play-by-play and analysis for games that aired on NBC's Triplecast, a pay-per-view joint venture between NBC and Cablevision during the Barcelona Games.
Each night, following game coverage from the Barcelona Olympics, the Olympic Channel will present NBC's "Dream Team" documentary that originally aired during the 2012 London Olympics, and includes interviews with Jordan, Johnson, Bird and Barkley.
