The Olympics are a great global sports events but the question is, is every Olympic sport watched? Which game pulls in the crowds and audiences around the world or in short, which is the leading game when the best of the best meet?
- Basketball. Olympic basketball has typically devolved into overfed American basketball players bringing down 200 pounds and at least six and a half feet of national greatness onto opponents’ heads. I would have a problem with this, but a.) there’s more competitive parity in international basketball than ever before, and b.) I am American.
2.Track and Field. It’s not fair, really, since Track and Field encompasses like 90 different things, but for economy it can’t be beaten because there are events that only take nine seconds. Track and Field is the snack bar of the Olympics, and each bite only contains the heartbreak of elite athletes watching their dreams incinerated in like, 15 seconds of competition. Highlight: Watching the hammer throw and wondering how anyone ever does it, much less how their limbs don’t fly off in every direction on the windup.
Sourced from: http://www.sbnation.com/2016/8/9/12343800/2016-olympics-rio-sports-watch-ranking
Are there numbers to stand by the facts that a certain game is more popular? Yes there are statistics of what every viewer prefers. The deal breaker for many viewers when it comes to the Olympics is gymnastics and why not since people defy gravity over there. Following closely are swimming, water sports and track and field.
And while events from archery to wrestling will get airtime, there are only an elite few Olympic sports that are true viewership draws.
Mindshare found that 75 percent of the 1,034 adults it polled planned to watch the Rio Games. That’s not quite Super Bowl-level viewership, but “it ranks higher than the Oscars and the Emmys,” said Mindshare’s head of insights, Mark Potts. “It is a unifying event. It appeals to almost everybody.”
Mindshare exclusively provided a portion of its survey to Adweek, the part about which sports people are most likely to watch.
88 percent will watch gymnastics
87 percent will watch swimming
81 percent will watch other water sports (diving, rowing, etc.)
81 percent will watch track and field (declining to 75 percent for women and rising to 85 percent for men)
73 percent will watch volleyball (79 percent of men)
72 percent will watch basketball (80 percent of men)
69 percent for soccer (77 percent of men)
67 percent for tennis (72 percent of men)
61 percent for combat sports (just 49 percent of women)
57 percent for weightlifting (69 percent of men)
53 percent for rugby (65 percent of men)
Sourced from: http://www.adweek.com/news/television/here-are-11-olympic-sports-viewers-are-most-excited-about-watching-172753
There are two new kids on the Olympic block, namely golf and rugby. Golf has never seen an Olympic gold since 1904. Rugby is making a great comeback ever since 1924.It is good to see the Olympic Committee bringing in new sports since the games are about unity in diversity.
Golf
Fun fact: Golf hasn’t been in the Olympics since the 1904 Games in St. Louis. But with a rich field of international golfers participating, Rio is effectively shaping up to be this year’s fifth major: Expect players like Matt Kuchar (USA), Justin Rose (Great Britain), Rickie Fowler (USA), and Sergio Garcia (Spain) to be there—as well as wild cards like Sweden’s Henrik Stenson or Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama—to battle it out under the sun with national pride on the line. Sure, we would’ve preferred Ryder Cup team-style play instead of the individual play we’re used to napping to on Sundays. But, hey—at least Jim Nantz won’t be calling it between whispers about azaleas.
Sevens Rugby
Rugby makes its triumphant return to the Olympics for the first time since 1924. Sevens—with seven players per side, as the name suggests—is an insanely popular sport everywhere but the U.S. With seven-minute halves and nonstop excitement, it’s tailor-made for millennials and anyone who feels there isn’t enough scoring in soccer. And on the heels of a historic title at the prestigious London Sevens last year, the American squad, led by Carlin Isles, the handsome 26-year-old American star from Ohio is poised to make sevens an up-and-coming sport in America.
Sourced from: http://www.mensfitness.com/sports/newest-olympic-sports-watch-during-2016-rio-games
