NBC Universal, which extended their partnership in a major deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for all Games between 2021 and 2032 in 2014, are paying roughly $1.28 billion (£90 billion/€1.17 billion) to broadcast Rio 2016.

This is a basic figure which does not include production costs.

When local revenue from affiliates and owned-and-operated stations is considered, NBC brought in around $1.3 billion (£90 million/€1.2 billion)  in advertising revenue from the London 2012 Games and are confident of a higher total this time around.

"A couple of months ago, we were behind London," NBC's executive vice-president sale and sales marketing Seth Winter. . 

Since then, however, “a couple” of significant business deals have been concluded, meaning they are now confident of reaching record highs.

"We will break revenue records here [in Rio]," Winter added.

“There's no doubt about that.”

Winter revealed that NBC have already sold advertising across a variety of areas including health, automotive, insurance, quick-serve restaurants, motion pictures, tech, financial, telecommunications and packaged goods.

Another advantage is that the Brazilian host city will only be one hour ahead of United States’ East Coast, including New York City, meaning far more events will be streamed live at prime time, thus further inflating numbers.

Digital sales are expected to be particularly high for Rio 2016 due to the growth in tablet and mobile usage over the last four years.

There could be a 50 per cent increase from these sales compared to London 2012, Winter hopes, with NBC having recently launched on Snapchat.

Companies seeking to buy digital advertising are also requested to spend on more traditional linear methods, however.

"Your linear investment is best suited and plays out better if there is digital inventory to solidify the level of engagement, the level of brand recall," he added.

"It's a kind of an insurance policy against your linear investment resonating with the public."