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Snoop Dogg attends the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Qualification on day two of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Bercy Arena in Paris on July 28, 2024.

Arturo Holmes | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Millions of viewers in the U.S. are tuning into the Summer Olympics in Paris — and many of them are getting a big dose of Snoop Dogg as part of the experience.

Beginning with the opening ceremony, the five-day total audience delivery average was 34 million viewers, combining daytime and primetime coverage, up 79% from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, according to an NBC Sports release.

Executives of Comcast‘s NBCUniversal — the TV and streaming broadcaster of the Games in the U.S. — have been touting not only the success of their production, but also of the celebrities and personalities employed as part of the coverage, namely Snoop Dogg.

The hip-hop artist turned sports commentator and entertainer has been on the sidelines at the Games in Paris, talking to athletes and their families, trying out sports with Olympic stars and taking a crack at analysis.

Molly Solomon, NBC’s executive producer of the Olympics, referred to Snoop Dogg as an “ambassador of happiness” during a press call this week.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by his popularity, but you never ever underestimate Snoop Dogg,” said Solomon, calling out his “wonderful mix of swagger and positivity and just the charisma and vibes are so positive.”

Snoop Dogg carries the Olympic flame during the last stage of the Olympic torch before the opening ceremony in Seine-Saint-Denis, France, on July 26, 2024.

Victoria Valdivia | Hans Lucas | AFP | Getty Images

Snoop Dogg, who joined the Olympic torch run, has generated considerable buzz on social media — from clips of him cheering alongside Olympians’ family members to snapping numerous selfies with athletes and those on the sidelines, including tennis legend Billie Jean King.

He has spurred some viral moments, including by cheering alongside U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel’s wife and baby son when Team USA won its first gold medal and dancing in the crowd as the U.S. women’s gymnastics team responded from the mat.

His swimming lesson from Olympic legend Michael Phelps also floated around the internet.

“The first time I ever actually watched him on Olympic coverage was the track and field trials back in June,” said Krissy Birdsall, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, adding she has been watching more of the Games due to the favorable time difference in Paris. “He was pretty entertaining. And he kind of brought a different perspective into the world of track and field.”

Pumped-up audience

NBCUniversal had been banking on the success of the Paris Olympics, and Snoop Dogg, for the past few years.

The rapper, once known for hits such as “Gin and Juice,” got his first spin at the Olympics in 2021 when he hosted a highlight show with comedian Kevin Hart on Peacock. While viewership for the Tokyo Games that year was lackluster, and few live events aired on Peacock, their show captured the audience, with various clips going viral.

Snoop Dogg is interviewed at the beach volleyball event on day five of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on July 31, 2024.

Carl Recine | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

“Snoop set the Olympic world on fire in Tokyo,” Solomon said in an interview with CNBC. The following year, NBC’s executives met with Snoop Dogg to discuss his future place in the Olympics broadcast, she said.

“He really wanted to go to the Olympic city, and tell the athletes’ story,” Solomon said.

Solomon and “Primetime in Paris” host Mike Tirico talked up Snoop Dogg’s work before the Games during a press call in July, noting his early arrival ahead of the opening ceremony and his relationships with athletes.

For his part, Snoop Dogg made his prep work sound a bit simpler.

“My preparation for prime time is being me,” he said during the press call, adding he was “sliding into the practice facilities with different teams. … I’m one of those individuals that likes to get involved.”

Ahead of the Games, Snoop Dogg was also present at the Olympic trials earlier this summer, and since then has popped up in various places. While Tirico, singer Kelly Clarkson and former National Football League star Peyton Manning led the opening ceremony, Snoop Dogg was interviewing American athletes while donning the same Ralph Lauren blazer as them.

“Snoop Dogg is one of those people that can totally just transcend and be versatile,” said Kendall Wright, a student at Northwestern University.

He has been decked out in USA gear, including an NBC jacket emblazoned with his name and T-shirts with the faces of star athletes such as Coco Gauff and Kelly Cheng.

Snoop Dogg cheers the USA team for women’s gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Wally Skalij | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

“It’s a sporting event, but it’s not your traditional audience,” John Fortunato, a communications and media management professor at the Fordham University Gabelli School of Business, said of the Olympics. “You see him at the various events, and he has so much personality that he can relate to the audience as a fan. That’s really where his appeal is.”

Snoop Dogg is sticking with NBC. Fans will get more of him on NBC and Peacock this fall when he joins the coaching seats on “The Voice.”

“I understand why Snoop Dogg and Alex Cooper have been looped into the Olympics, especially for the millennial and Gen X audience,” said Jenna Mindes, a human resources professional from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

She is a big fan of gymnastics and went to the Olympic trials in Minneapolis this summer. However, she has not loved the inclusion of celebrities in the Olympics.

“I think for gymnastics and maybe less mainstream sports, big fans are kind of gatekeepers who take their sports very seriously … and celebrities entering the conversation almost seems to dilute the sport,” she said.

There has been “a lot more pop culture, celebrities and a lot more Snoop than we’ve had before,” said NBC Sports President Rick Cordella, adding that this has helped to popularize the Paris Olympics.

Snoop Dogg poses for photos with American sportscasters Bob Costas (L) and Al Michaels at beach volleyball on day five of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on July 31, 2024.

Carl Recine | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Meanwhile, the “Gold Zone” show on Peacock, which shows multiple live sports at once and is led by Scott Hanson of “NFL Red Zone” in a similar format, has become a big hit, as has the watch-along show led by Alex Cooper, host of the podcast “Call Her Daddy.”

“We’ve really taken a different path at how we approach this,” Cordella said of Peacock’s Olympics strategy, which has been a big part of the viewership numbers.

The success of the Paris Olympics follows the lowest-ever rated Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, as well as the lesser-watched Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022.

The Tokyo Olympics faced myriad issues. They were delayed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic; no family and fans were present at the events; few, if any, events were available on streaming service Peacock; and there was a severe time difference for U.S. viewers.

Since July 26, the Paris Olympics audience has been on a roll, according to NBC Sports. The opening ceremony, which took place on the Seine River, had 28.6 million viewers, compared to 17.9 million for Tokyo and 26.5 million for the 2016 Rio Games, making it the most-watched Opening Ceremony since 2012 in London. 

During a recent interview with NBC Nightly News’ Lester Holt, Snoop Dogg said he never expected to play this role “in his wildest dreams,” especially after watching the Olympics when he was a child.

“I’m the biggest kid in the crowd,” he told Holt of his cheering on the U.S. athletes at the games.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City on Dec. 11, 2023.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Companies are increasing access to new blockbuster weight-loss drugs for employees, but size of employer may make a big difference in early access. Small businesses and their workers are often stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to this burgeoning health insurance coverage market.

Small businesses employ roughly half of the workers in the U.S. labor market, and they have been adding jobs at a faster pace than large employers. Since the first quarter of 2021, small-business hiring accounted for 53% of the 12.2 million total net jobs created across all employers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, consistent with the longer-term trend.

The blockbuster obesity drugs, called GLP-1 agonists, cost roughly $1,000 per month on average — and they are typically taken for a long time. Access to these weight-loss drugs is coming from an increasing number of sources in the marketplace, drug makers are ramping up production, and use cases continue to increase, with clinical trials showing benefits for conditions from sleep apnea to heart disease risk. But many of the 100 million American adults who are obese can’t afford to pay out of pocket for drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, and are turning to their employers for help. 

A survey last October of 205 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans found that 76% of respondents provided GLP-1 drug coverage for diabetes, versus only 27% that provided coverage for weight loss. But 13% of plan sponsors indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss. Covering these drugs, however, is harder for smaller employers, many of whom rely on off-the-shelf plans offered by their insurance carriers. While there are plans that cover GLP-1 drugs, the cost can be prohibitive for many small businesses.

There’s strong demand from employees for coverage and smaller employers would like to be able to do it, but there are trade-offs, said Shawn Gremminger, president and chief executive of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, a nonprofit purchaser-led organization. Companies have to consider the impact on wages or other benefits they might like to offer. “The company money has to come from somewhere,” he said.

In some cases, small employers, even if they want to cover weight-loss drugs, are simply priced out of the market and they may have to accept they can’t offer the coverage they would like to. 

“Given the price of these drugs, you have to do the cost-benefit analysis and for a lot of small companies — even some larger ones — they just can’t do it,” Gremminger said. “No matter how much they want to.”

Here are a few issues for small business employers and employees to understand in accessing expensive weight-loss drugs as part of job benefits.

Annual benefits deals are being brokered now. Open enrollment season for health insurance doesn’t occur until the fall, but employers should be having renewal discussions with their benefits broker or agent now, and that conversation should include weight-loss drugs. Small business employers should be telling a broker they would like to be able to provide weight-loss drugs for employees, and ask for help in finding the right carrier or the right plan, said Gary Kushner, chair and president of Kushner & Company, a benefits design and management company.

The market is changing quickly. Last year, an insurance carrier asked about covering weight-loss drugs may have said no, but it’s worth asking the carrier again because they may have been forced to make changes to their offerings for competitive reasons, said Kate Moher, president of national employee health and benefits for Marsh McLennan Agency, which advises employers on plan designs and benefits programs. “You should be asking the question every year,” she said. 

Insurance premiums may rise. To gain access to weight-loss drugs, many small businesses may have to switch insurance carriers, and probably pay more. “It most likely will be more expensive if one is not covering the drugs and the other is,” Kushner said.

Employers also have to decide how much of that can be reasonably passed to employees, without unduly burdening workers who may never need these drugs. “If 20% of your population takes it, everyone’s premium goes up by whatever percentage that is to cover the cost,” Gremminger said.

Small businesses should consider a ‘captive health’ plan. Generally speaking, any business with at least 50 employees might consider working with a captive health insurance plan like Roundstone, ParetoHealth, Stealth and Amwins, Moher said. These businesses allow groups of companies who couldn’t self-insure — the approach most large corporations take — to pool resources and design a group health plan together. 

This approach may allow a small business and its employees more flexibility, Moher said, but owners still have to weigh the costs and there are requirements to qualify. It’s also not something businesses can change every year like they could when working with a traditional insurance carrier. “It’s a long-term play; you can’t jump in and out,” Moher said. 

These plans are designed for the long-term because, as member-owners, the participants all agree to spread the risk, an approach that can keep costs down over time and decrease volatility. But if business owners are looking for a quick-fix or prefer to wait and see how the market develops over the next year, it’s probably not the right model.

A GLP-1 drug standalone coverage option could also work for some small businesses. Companies like Vida Health, Calibrate, Found Health and Vitality Group provide these offerings separate from an employer’s primary carrier, Gremminger said. Employers need to do the math to determine whether it could be more cost effective, and whether the option truly suits their employees’ needs based on the offerings.

Use an FSA to help cover weight-loss drug costs. If insurance coverage options aren’t an effective solution today, small employers may have a few other ways to help employees defray the cost of weight-loss drugs. They might consider, for instance, making contributions to employees’ flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts. They could also consider a health reimbursement arrangement, or HRA, which is an employer-funded plan that reimburses employees for qualified medical expenses. 

However, there are strict rules and requirements for each of these options. For example, with an FSA, the IRS limits an employer’s contribution based on how much the employee contributes, and this still isn’t likely to suffice to cover the cost of these drugs long-term. “Does it help? Sure. Does it solve the problem? No,” Kushner said.

It’s also not a move to make without first getting sign-off from legal counsel. “You need the guidance of your ERISA attorneys to make sure you meet all the criteria,” Moher said. “It’s a creative way of doing it, but you have to make sure you’re meeting all of your compliance requirements.”

Right now, the end result can be very discouraging for small businesses and their employees given the costs and limited options, but it’s also important to know that there are 20 or so drugs in the approval pipeline. Once they get approved, costs are likely to come down, Moher said. “This is something that may be a short-term thing until we get more GLP-1 drugs approved.”