Olympics’ Audience Extends Well Beyond Traditional Sports Base.

While the current focus of the sports world has been on the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, interest in the Games, especially among non-sports or light sports fans, extends far beyond just these two weeks, according to a report in Edison Research’s Weekly Insights blog.

Based on results from the Sports Poll conducted by SSRS, which acquired Edison in October 2025 — and which is one of the only data sources capturing interest in the Olympics vs. other professional and collegiate sports — 40% of non-sports fans age 12+ were interested in the Winter Olympics in 2025, more than double those interested in the NFL or college football, the NBA or college basketball, Major League Baseball or the NHL. Among light sports fans 12+, more than 60% were interested in the Winter Olympics, also well ahead of other sports.

According to SSRS, the wide margin of interest between the Olympics and other sports, among both non-sports and light sports fans, has been the case since Sports Poll began tracking interest in the Games more than 30 years ago.

Not only do the Olympics garner more interest, but SSRS’ Opinion Panel found that more than two-thirds (68%) of Americans 12+ said the Olympics were an important factor to becoming a sports fan in the first place. 

These findings bode well for iHeartMedia’s exclusive audio coverage of the 2026 Winter Games, as partner to NBCUniversal’s coverage on video platforms. Other recent research suggests that when it comes to attention to major sporting events, fans are more engaged on radio vs. TV, with Audacy reporting that audio listeners display a significantly higher level of avid fandom compared to sports fans overall.