(NEW YORK, August 21, 2008) – TNS, a world leader in market information, today announced the results of its analysis on viewing the Olympic Games in the United States. The studies revealed that although many Olympic viewers enjoy the pomp and spectacle of the games and are interested in the opening and closing ceremonies, interest in the Games is primarily a desire to watch the competition, athletic excellence and sports.
Eighty-five percent of respondents surveyed were interested in the Olympic Games. Of female Olympic Games viewers, 65 percent reportedly watched the opening ceremony, and 73 percent plan to watch the closing ceremony. In terms of sports viewing, women’s interest in gymnastics remains strong at 81 percent, closely followed by swimming (82 percent) and diving (72 percent), all within range of the percentage who watched the opening ceremony.
Men are interested in a much wider variety of sports including basketball, diving, gymnastics, swimming, track and field and volleyball. Interest peaks with 81 percent of men noting interest in watching swimming, 77 percent interested in watching gymnastics and 66 percent citing both diving and basketball. Even smaller sports, such as rowing, piqued interest with around 35 percent of men interested in watching rowing, water polo and weightlifting.
The means of engaging with the Olympic Games has changed over the quadrennial with more people not simply watching on television but also using new technology to follow sports. Twenty-eight percent of 18-24 year olds and 20 percent of 25-34 year olds are viewing the Games on a computer. While mobile is currently emerging as a content delivery device with than two percent of the general population accessing the Games through a mobile device, among the 18-34 year olds, that percentage is tripled to six percent.
For those self-described as very interested in the Games, it is not about watching more hours of coverage but engaging in more medium with 23 percent of those very interested using the computer and a recording device to engage in the games.
There is concern in the US about overall sports-viewing interest among 12-17 year olds, which has declined from a peak in 2003 of nearly 50 percent of the age group being considered “avid sports fans” – to just over 40 percent in 2007. As further evidence of the decline, during the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, 44 percent of 12-17 year olds were considered very interested in the Games compared to only 37 percent in 2004. This is not a decline evident in other age groups – the sports industry faces a challenge of capturing and retaining the interest of this generation.
“This trend presents both a challenge and an opportunity,” said Nadine Gelberg, Ph.D., vice president of Sports Industry at TNS, “engaging with the next generation of fans will require creative platforms that reach beyond sport, integrating with video games, concerts, social networking, etc. The Olympic Games captures our interest every four years but how we engage is changing and for the sponsors who wish to reach the fans and the Olympic Movement who wants to maintain that interest, we need to understand what drives the passion and how is that expressed.”
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