NBC Sports Turns to Ray Romano and Sebastian Maniscalco to Kickstart 2026 Winter Olympics Push

NBC is betting that Ray Romano and Sebastian Maniscalco tossing some bruschetta down the ice can get viewers amped up about the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Italy next year.

NBC Sports this week will use the Kentucky Derby to launch a marketing campaign for next year’s Milano Cortina games, leaning in to two of the most famous and funny Italian Americans to help it do so.

“Who better to talk about a Winter Olympics in Italy than two very Italian guys?” jokes Jenny Storms, CMO of television and streaming for NBCUniversal, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

The spot, which was filmed with the help of Industrial Light & Magic to recreate the Italian Alps on a set in Los Angeles, sees the comics debating which winter sports they want to try, from a mountaintop with snowboards to skeleton and luge, before settling on the far more reasonably-paced curling, and maybe a bowl of pasta on the side.

“It’s a fun opportunity to us to infuse Italy and at the same time and talk about the exciting adrenaline-filled sports that are coming in a few short months here,” Storms says.

The spot is a continuation of sorts from NBC’s Paris Olympics coverage, where the company really leaned into celebrities to help sell the games, both in its promotional efforts, and during the games themselves, where Snoop Dogg emerged as a fan favorite.

“We certainly feel like the playbook [with the Paris Olympics] was extremely successful, so we’re taking a lot of cues from that playbook and moving them and evolving them as we move to Milano Cortina,” Storms says. “This is an evolution and continuation of that playbook which is sort of sparking conversation and getting into the cultural conversation with connecting with celebrity.”

And the campaign will kickstart a nearly year-long effort to get Americans amped up about the winter Olympics and all it entails.

“Americans want more Olympics in their everyday conversation,” Storms says. “That was very clear when we talked to people, they want to be talking about the Olympics and these athletes, not once every four years, they wanted it to be part of the cultural conversation 365 days a year. e just have to do it in the right way, the relevant way.”

Or as Maniscalco puts it: “Ray and I teamed up for the Olympics—two Italian guys trying to figure out winter sports. Let’s just say, we thought ‘luge’ was a type of Pasta.”