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Bravoholics, you might want to sit down.
Top line
NBCUniversal confirmed today that BravoCon is out for 2024, with the event not returning until 2025.
Instead of the annual fan convention, NBCU will host a series of Watch Party by Bravo events this year.
Between the lines
The news of BravoCon’s delay is somewhat surprising, coming just one month before NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation, where BravoCon dance numbers and highlights have been a staple over the past couple of years.
The fan convention has also been a resounding success for NBCU. Last year’s event at the Caesars Forum in Las Vegas included more than 27,000 fans, 160 Bravolebrities, more than 60 live events and an expanded presence for brands and Peacock.
With the announcement, Bravo fans will have to wait until 2025, with BravoCon returning to Caesars Forum in Las Vegas on Nov. 14-16.
Meanwhile, instead of BravoCon, the network will roll out Watch Party by Bravo, the first in a series of upcoming events, this spring in New York and Los Angeles. The events include advance screenings and exclusive sneak peeks of Bravo programming.
Bottom line
There’s no official word on why BravoCon was delayed one year, especially with brands seemingly doubling down on activations in 2023.
For last year’s BravoCon, NBCU had 20 expanded and interactive brand sponsorships and three times as many commercial-led activations, according to the company.
In addition, brands saw plenty of engagement and attention from attendees during the event, with Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s chairman of ad sales, telling ADWEEK that brands are “absolutely a fabric of the weekend in the storytelling.”
“When we look back at last BravoCon, you look at all the passion that everyone has for all the Bravolebrities, but also one of the longest lines you had was Jake from State Farm,” Marshall said at the time.
