Gary Zenkel

Gary Zenkel has been President, NBC Olympics, since 2005, overseeing NBCUniversal’s Olympic and Paralympic business and relationships with the International Olympic Committee, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, host organizing committees, distribution partners, stations, and media partners. He has guided NBCUniversal’s Games strategy through a rapidly evolving media landscape, expanding the reach, presentation, and commercial impact of its coverage.

Under Zenkel’s leadership, NBCUniversal’s recent Olympic presentations have delivered strong results across audience engagement, streaming, social media, and industry recognition. He also helped steer the pandemic-impacted Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Games by accelerating remote-production workflows, expanding Stamford-based operations, and introducing flexible production models under unprecedented restrictions.

Zenkel has also expanded NBCUniversal’s commitment to the Paralympic Games, working with partners to increase visibility, programming, streaming coverage, and commercial support for Para athletes and the Paralympic movement.

Since Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, Zenkel has led three major acquisitions of U.S. Olympic media rights, securing every Olympic Games from 2014 through 2036. He also helped forge the LA28-USOPC-NBCUniversal commercial partnership, a first-of-its-kind model combining sponsorship, activation, and media-sales opportunities for Olympic advertisers, and was instrumental in NBCUniversal’s acquisition of Spanish-language rights to FIFA World Cup events from 2018 through 2026.

Zenkel joined NBC Sports in 1990 as Director of Sports Contract Negotiations and held senior roles across NBC Sports and NBC Olympics before becoming President. He has been instrumental in rights acquisitions, negotiations, and renewals for many of NBC Sports’ most important properties, including the Olympics, French Open, Major League Baseball, Notre Dame Football, PGA Tour, USGA championships, and Ryder Cup. Before NBC Sports, he was a corporate associate with Cahill Gordon & Reindel in New York.

Zenkel graduated from the University of Michigan in 1983 and Georgetown University Law Center in 1987 and was a two-year letterman on the Wolverines golf team.