Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions makes a bigger play for advertisers

Peyton Manning has become one of the most popular pitchmen on Madison Avenue. He now wants his production company to become one of the most popular agencies in the industry.

As the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade unfolds on NBC Thursday, attentive viewers may notice a 90-second vignette airing during the programming featuring Alison Brie, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, musician Conan Gray, host John O’Hurley and one of the K-Pop stars Demon Hunters. Omaha Productions, Manning’s production company, helped produce the segment, which features many celebrities looking for ways to find the perfect gift, on behalf of Macy’s. This unique assemblage ties together many elements of the day, which also includes NBC’s televised broadcast of the National Dog Show and an NFL game.

The footage could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to Guideline, an ad spending tracker, NBC managed to raise an average of $865,000 for a 30-second ad during its broadcast of the 2023 parade, and is seeking a higher price in 2025, due to growing advertiser interest in live events and sports broadcasts that reach large audiences.

“Macy’s is not only the parade at the top of the day, but it’s actually the entry line to the dog show and the NFL,” Hannah Biondi, senior director of branded content at Omaha Productions, said in a recent interview. Omaha worked to bring together the group of famous faces as part of a mission from Sharon Otterman, Macy’s chief marketing officer, to “help them kick off the holiday season.”

Omaha has become noted in recent years for its popular “ManningCast,” a freewheeling analysis of ESPN’s regular “Monday Night Football” show that features Peyton and Eli Manning and an ever-changing assortment of guests. But the company, which was founded by Manning and veteran producer Jamie Horowitz and counts Patrick Whitesell and Peter Chernin among its investors, is expanding beyond alternative sports broadcasts and other unscripted programming.

In recent months, Omaha has done a lot of work for insurance giant Nationwide and produced a live pregame morning show, “Breakfast at Bethpage,” leading up to the PGA of America’s Ryder Cup, streaming on NBCUniversal’s Peacock and the league’s digital media. Colin Jost and Marcello Hernandez of “Saturday Night Live” helped moderate the proceedings.

This type of content “represents a growing part of our business,” Biondi says.

Peyton Manning knows a lot about advertising, as he’s in high demand as an on-screen booster for much of it. In recent years, the NFL legend has appeared in commercials for FanDuel, Oreo, Michelob Ultra, NFL Sunday Ticket, Buick, Gatorade and Papa John’s.

He now appears to be offering his company’s services. Omaha Productions can use its contacts in the sports and entertainment world to bring together different types of personalities, Biondi says. “We can branch out across the entire sports and entertainment industry to provide our customers with good content and production.”