The US viewing audience for the 2024 Paris Games is poised to be the smallest for any prior Summer Olympics according to analytics and advisory company Gallup. Thirty-five per cent of US adults plan to watch a great deal (10 per cent) or fair amount (25 per cent) of the games, which is down from 48 per cent measured for the 2016 Olympics and figures just shy of 60 per cent from 2000 to 2012.

Gallup has measured viewing intentions for each Olympics since 2000, except for the 2020 Olympic Games that were delayed until 2021 because of the pandemic.

In addition to the 35 per cent who plan to watch at least a fair amount of this year’s games, 34 per cent say they will not watch much and 30 per cent do not plan to watch any. The latter figure is up from 21 per cent in 2016 and is more than double the 2000 to 2012 readings, which ranged from 12 per cent to 14 per cent.

Americans’ lack of interest in this year’s Olympics is also evident in the 56 per cent who are aware the games are being held in France. In recent Summer Olympic years, no less than 63 per cent of US adults accurately identified the host country. However, in 1948 and 1952, before the Olympics were televised, fewer Americans than today could correctly identify England (37 per cent) and Finland (32 per cent), respectively, as the host countries.

Viewership Skews Toward Americans of Higher Socioeconomic Status

No major subgroup of Americans expresses high levels of interest in watching the 2024 Olympics, but there are notable differences in viewership intentions.

• The largest gaps are seen by education, with 47 per cent of postgraduates planning to tune in regularly, compared with 25 per cent of those with a high school education or less. Those with only a bachelor’s degree (42 per cent) or some college education without a bachelor’s degree (37 per cent) fall between the highest and lowest educational attainment groups.
• The viewing audience will be tilted toward higher-income Americans, as 44 per cent of those with six-figure annual household incomes plan to watch, compared with 35 per cent of those in middle-income households (with annual earnings of $40,000 to $99,999) and 28 per cent in lower-income households.
• Democrats (46 per cent) are much more likely than Republicans (31 per cent) and independents (31 per cent) to say they will watch at least a fair amount of the games.
• Older Americans, those aged 50 and older, are more likely to watch than those younger than 50 (42 per cent vs 30 per cent).
• Women are slightly more likely than men to say they will tune in, 39 per cent to 32 per cent.

Women’s Sports Anticipated as Much as Men’s

A separate Gallup Panel survey of US adults planning to watch at least some of the 2024 Olympics asked them to choose which specific event they were most looking forward to watching. Respondents were given choices of women’s and men’s competitions in each of four sports — swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and basketball. These were the top four sports Americans named when asked to choose their favourite Olympic sport in a 2008 Gallup poll. Respondents could also volunteer a sport other than the eight displayed options.

The clear winner is women’s gymnastics, chosen by 42 per cent of Americans as the event they most look forward to and 68 per cent ranking it among their top three choices.

Next are men’s and women’s track and field and swimming competitions, with 6 per cent to 10 per cent ranking those sports first and 29 per cent to 33 per cent ranking them among their top three. Men’s basketball ties with the swimming events as the top choice for 6 per cent of Americans, but fewer, 20 per cent, rank it among their top three.

The Olympic Games kicked off on July 26th and run until August 11th.

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Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Research

Tags: gallup, Olympics, usa