Brisbane Olympics: Party like it's 2032

[GymBeauty]

I don’t think covid can be blamed for poor viewership of the Olympics, it didn’t hinder people’s ability to watch TV, and the problem was already apparent beforehand. The attentions are just so split that the Olympics are no longer the same cultural event they used to be. I remember in 2010 and 2012, people both in person and on social media were widely talking about the Olympics. It started getting less popular after that, and 2018 felt like the majority were no longer watching at all.

 

[MaryClare]

I think the biggest factor is the change in how people consume media. There’s a lot less people who sit and watch live events on television. It used to be that you couldn’t help but watch the Olympics, now it’s very easy to be barely aware that it’s happening

 

[Seyonne]

I feel like the Olympics are dying and with it will go a number of smaller sports. It’s sad to see. I’m a huge Olympic nerd since Montreal. I watch almost everything. I use to be sad to see it end. Now, halfway through, I almost can’t wait for it to end. It’s just too overwhelming now.

 

[J175]

2021 I think was affected by Covid to some extent, it just didn’t feel like as big an event with no crowds and a lot of the talk in the build up was about how it would be affected by Covid or whether it should even happen at all. Plus Tokyo and Beijing are in bad timezones for viewers in the US and Europe. I think in Europe at least Paris 2024 should be a much bigger thing, BUT since the IOC sold the TV rights to Discovery, in most countries full coverage will be behind a paywall, with only limited free-to-air coverage.

 

[irichluck21]

I don’t think covid can be blamed for poor viewership of the Olympics, it didn’t hinder people’s ability to watch TV,

It can and it did.
I don’t think anyone realizes the importance of the crowd or the energy of the arena.
I know lots of friends that simply turned it off because Tokyo didn’t have the same feel as the Olympics had previously.

Also, with tape delay here in the USA for prime time viewing, results are already known as it is all over social media before the average person can watch it “live” at night. This can also contribute to a lack of watching.

 

[GymBeauty]

Those are valid concerns but in a world where people were kept inside by covid, I don’t think viewership would have been hurt, if the Olympics had the same presence it used to. It probably would have been a giant beacon of community and become even more of a “must watch” thing out of solidarity.

The 1998 Olympics in Japan had the timezone delay, with winners being on the front page of newspapers before people could watch primetime coverage. 2008 in China also. The difference in interest level with those Olympics and 2018 is night-and-day.

 

[JDB]

In regards to the USA, the Olympics isn’t popular among younger generations. And winter sports have done nothing to broaden their appeal. Figure skating was a marketable sport in 1998 but now it’s a hard sell towards anyone younger than 50. Americans are more likely to participate in sports featured in the Summer Olympics. But the general decline in popularity still affects viewership and host city viability.

 

[MaryClare]

That’s nothing new though. Key audiences for gymnastics and figure skating the US has always been pre teen girls and 40+ women.

Even at the peak of Mag 7 fame, it wasn’t groups of friends in their 20s turning up to the post Olympic tours

 

[arabiandoublefront]

Yeah, there’s definitely been a culture shift in America over the past few decades. I almost succumbed to it myself regarding figure skating, but then I found ways to watch the sport.

 

[KristyJ]

To be fair, those post Olympic tours are usually cheesy and feature watered down gymnastics.

Simone did a bit better with hers last year, but it’s still not the place to go for competition-worthy routines.

Edit- I say this having attended more than one of said tours in my lifetime.

 

[rlayt]

I’ve attended one. The one after the 2004 Olympics. Not impressive.

 

[JDB]

They don’t have comparable spectator audiences anymore. The ads for figure skating nationals are targeted towards people over 50. And the live audience skews older than gymnastics nationals’. I suspect youth participation is higher in gymnastics too but don’t have any stats to back that up. Winter Olympics sports have a bigger popularity problem in America than Summer Olympics sports overall. It’s more pronounced with figure skating.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

I think I went to that one, too.

 

[Hatsumomo]

Winter Olympic sports have an even bigger barrier to entry for a kid to start than Summer Olympic sports in terms of accessibility. If you don’t live in or near ski resort areas, it’s hard to start skiing and snowboarding because how many places have indoor ski training facilities. Fewer ice rinks with figure skating or speed skating lessons or hockey teams. Meanwhile, a lot of Summer Olympic sports are available through public schools and public access venues. Community pools with lessons and swim teams. Mommy and Me gymnastics classes at basic gyms.

Also, America doesn’t dominate the Winter Olympics as we do the Summer Olympics, and no Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, or Simone Biles-level stars other than Shaun White. Early-mid '90s figure skating was at its peak in the USA with the Harding-Kerrigan drama, Surya Bonaly, and Oksana Baiul.

 

[MaryClare]

I have no idea how you even start your kid in certain winter sports. Like skeleton or bob sleigh. Even here where there is a lot of snow and sports are state funded, there is no childrens sports school for Bob sleigh and I imagine in America there is no little league for it either.

As I mentioned previously, I think almost all Olympic sports are in relative decline. The Olympics reached their popularity peak 1988-2000. Post boycotts, pre internet. Even though there have subsequently been GOATs like Phelps, Bolt, Biles, it hasn’t been enough.

The way people consume media has changed dramatically in the past 20 years, for some competitions that has been a huge boost, but the Olympics haven’t benefited from it

 

[arabiandoublefront]

I wonder why that is. For a long time now (since the 1996 Olympics), I’ve liked Olympic sports more than traditional American sports. The sport I’ve been a fan of the longest is baseball, but it’s been on a strictly on and off basis.

 

[MaryClare]

Because on the whole, people gravitate towards entertainment that meets their social needs. It’s harder for non team sports, and it’s harder still for judged sports.

 

[JDB]

Most Olympic sports have limited spectator value. But someone only needed to be interested in one Olympic sport to watch others during the games. Many Olympic sports including gymnastics go out of their way to be crowd unfriendly. The Olympics is now a collection of poorly managed sports that had limited appeal to begin with. It all makes for a bad entertainment product.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

Yeah, you’re right. I just don’t know what exactly makes a good entertainment product these days. I’m relatively easy to please, although I hate some of the current trends like TikTok.

 

[RedBirdie]

I have no idea how you even start your kid in certain winter sports. Like skeleton or bob sleigh. Even here where there is a lot of snow and sports are state funded, there is no childrens sports school for Bob sleigh and I imagine in America there is no little league for it either.

By and large in the US, bobsled and the other sliding sports hold open tryouts hoping to attract athletes from other sports who want a shot at the olympics. They’re not developing a development pipeline of lugers; the national team is converting established elite athletes. There’s only two olympic-level bobsled tracks in the whole US, iirc.