Why America has fallen out of love with the Olympics

By Matthew Gagnon

The opening of the Winter Olympics took place in Beijing Friday, to the collective yawn of most of America. According to the Wall Street Journal, the first day of Games pulled in roughly 16 million viewers, a number that includes both traditional television viewership as well as streaming platforms. That may sound like an impressive number, but it represents a massive decline in viewership — 43 percent in total — compared with the official kickoff in Pyeongchang in 2018.

This is not an isolated event. The Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021, delayed a year and massively disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, also saw a huge decline in ratings. The opening in Tokyo attracted roughly 17 million viewers across all platforms, which was down 36 percent compared with the 2016 Games in Rio. 

For comparison’s sake, 26.5 million people watched the opening ceremonies in Rio, and 27.8 million watched in Pyeongchang.

So what happened? Has America fallen out of love with the Olympics?

Many people are asking that question right now. Columnist Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! puzzled over the question on Saturday, trying to figure out why Americans are no longer tuning in. His answer? The host country, China, is the problem this year. 

Pointing his finger at the opening ceremony itself, Wetzel saw an expression of China’s abhorrent, amoral, dictatorial government in action. “It ended with China using cross country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang, who the state run media said has Uyghur heritage, as one of the cauldron lighters. It was a clear counter to the claims of genocide — see, look at this smiling, celebrated Uyghur.”

Quite right. For anyone paying attention, this was a pretty grotesque display of hypocrisy. 

He continued, “It was a disturbing and dispiriting moment, a young athlete and an iconic moment in every Olympics used as a propaganda prop to cover up a campaign of slavery, torture, forced abortions and internment in reeducation camps. It did nothing to build good feelings toward the competition.”

This analysis, though, is somewhat lacking. Is the general American citizen aware of the sins of the Chinese government, and do they care? Do they know about the diplomatic boycott of the Games, and are they refusing to watch in solidarity? Do people even know where the Games are being held this year?

I believe China being the host country does, in fact, have something to do with the bad ratings, but it is also clearly not the only factor at play here. After all, the Tokyo Olympics were a similar ratings disappointment, despite Japan being a well-respected, friendly, democratic government that has none of the political baggage that China does.

So what gives?

I’m not sure I have the answers, but I can give you my own perspective. I happen to be a big fan of the Olympics, both in concept and in practice. I believe strongly in the Olympic mission of international peace and cooperation through athletic competition. I also love watching the games themselves, obsessively following medal counts, watching obscure sports I had barely heard of, and reveling in the drama of the storylines.

Yet last year, and this year, it has been a struggle for me to get excited by the Games. While China has been a factor this year, my apathy toward the games has really been driven by three factors.

First, the pandemic has robbed the joy of the event. Instead of losing myself in the thrill of the competition, I’m constantly drowning in stories of misery and illness. COVID protocols and policies, positive tests and athletes being kept from competing, travel bans, remote sportscasters and endless pandemic stories dominate coverage, instead of features on the sport and the athlete. It is tough not to be depressed just from that. 

Second, the lack of fans has a real psychological impact. I never really appreciated just how important fans were to my enjoyment of sports until they were taken away. Now, the drama and excitement without them are virtually non-existent. 

Third, and perhaps most important for Americans, is the athletes themselves. For some of us, the constant politicization of sport has left us without a rooting interest. For the rest of us the problem really boils down to a lack of compelling athletes carrying the American torch. Some may be interesting, but in totality athletes competing for American in the past two Games have not been comparable to those led by Michael Phelps or Apolo Ohno in the past. 

And so, despite wanting desperately to care, I find myself unable to summon the will to watch, which is a tremendous shame.

Gagnon of Yarmouth is the chief executive officer of the Maine Policy Institute, a free market policy think tank based in Portland. A Hampden native, he previously served as a senior strategist for the Republican Governors Association in Washington, D.C.