Most People Plan to Watch the Summer Olympics Live, But Around 1 in 5 Haven't Yet Decided

Sports fans outside of Japan won't be able to cheer on their teams in person for this summer's Tokyo Olympics due to the pandemic, but it's unclear what that'll do to viewership for the Games. To get a sense of how folks across the U.S. are thinking about the Olympics, Adweek and Morning Consult conducted a survey asking about plans for viewing the Games, which will take place between July 23 to August 8. The survey also asked respondents whether they supported the International Olympic Committee's ban on athlete protests. Most Americans are interested in the Tokyo Olympics Overall, 53% of those surveyed said they are at least somewhat interested in the Summer Olympic Games this year, while 41% said they're either "not very interested" or "not interested at all." Millennials are the most enthusiastic about the Games, with 60% reporting that they're at least somewhat interested and 28% describing themselves as "very interested." The event, which usually takes place every four years, was postponed last March due to the coronavirus. Despite concerns from some experts and Japanese citizens, the Games are scheduled to take place this summer instead—though they'll still be branded as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Plans to watch the Games follow the same pattern as interest, with 53% saying that they plan to watch at least some of the Olympics this summer. That number was highest among millennials again, 58% of whom said they're planning to watch at least some of the Games. A majority plan to watch the Olympics live on TV While around 19% of those surveyed said they haven't yet decided how they'll tune into the Tokyo Olympics, 60% said they expect to watch them live on TV. Only 17% said they plan to watch via a streaming service, and just 4% said they'll do so through an app. (NBCUniversal has exclusive broadcast rights to the event, and will provide coverage via its broadcast channels, streaming app and website.) Millennials again were the outlier, with just over one-fourth of millennial respondents (26%) saying that they plan to watch via a streaming service. Views on the IOC's protesting guidelines Last month, the International Olympic Committee announced that it would keep Rule 50—which bans athletes from demonstrating on the podium, on the field of play and during opening and closing ceremonies—in place for the Tokyo Olympics. The IOC had come under pressure to loosen those rules following anti-racism protests around the world last summer. In response, it conducted a survey of athletes asking for their opinions on Rule 50, which found that two-thirds of athletes supported the protest ban. The IOC cited the survey as the basis for its decision to keep the rule in place. Of Americans surveyed in the Adweek-Morning consult poll last week, 46% said they support the ban as well, with 30% somewhat or strongly opposing the ban. Black respondents were most likely to oppose the ban, with 52% saying they somewhat or strongly opposed the rule. Responses to the ban fell largely along party lines, with 35% of Democrats, 39% of Independents and 69% of Republicans supporting Rule 50. Nearly one-fourth (24%) of those surveyed said they didn't know about it or had no opinion. This poll, conducted online between May 1 and May 3 by Morning Consult, included responses from 2,200 American adults. Those responses were then weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on gender, education, age, race and religion. As such, the margin of error for the full survey is plus or minus 2 percentage points. ‘We Are Team USA’ Campaign Champions Diversity on the Road to the Tokyo Olympics