A new Ipsos Global Advisor survey*, conducted in 28 countries, showed that Americans are split on whether the Summer Olympics in Tokyo should go ahead, with 52 percent agreeing that it should. Only half of Americans (48 percent) are interested in the Olympics this year. Despite the lukewarm interest, Americans believe the Olympics have a positive impact on society and indicated that the event brings America together (66 percent) and would inspire the next generation to participate in sports (80 percent).

Gymnastics tops the list of sports Americans are most interested in watching followed by swimming, diving and track and field.

Detailed findings include:

1. A majority of Americans think the Tokyo Olympics should go ahead, above the global average.

  • A slight majority of Americans (52 percent) agreed that the Olympics should go ahead, even if the pandemic continues;
  • Respondents in Japan were less likely to agree, with only 22 percent saying the Olympics should take place; and
  • Two-thirds of Americans (67 percent) said the Olympics are an important opportunity for the world to come together following the pandemic.

2. Interest in the 2021 Olympics is muted globally.

  • In the U.S., only 48 percent of respondents said they are interested in the Olympic Games (16 percent were very interested and 32 percent were somewhat interested), on par with the global average of 46 percent who are interested. However, interest varied widely across the 28 countries surveyed with over 55 percent of respondents in India, South Africa, China, and Poland expressing interest versus less than 35 percent in Belgium, South Korea, Japan, France, and Germany.
  • Americans are most interested in watching gymnastics (39 percent), aquatics (32 percent) and track and field (21 percent). Basketball and baseball (both 13 percent) and volleyball (12 percent) lagged behing.
  • Globally, soccer garnered the most interest (30 percent, average); however, only 10 percent of respondents in the U.S. and 7 percent in Japan listed it as one of the three sports they are most interested in.

3. Americans think that the Olympics have a positive impact on society.

  • About two-thirds of the respondent (66 percent) in the U.S. think the Olympics bring their country together with four in five (80 percent) saying the Olympics inspire the next generation to participate in sports compared to a global country average of 65 percent and 80 percent, respectively.
  • Only about half of American respondents (53 percent) agreed that “government funding should be used to support my country’s athletes at the Olympics” compared to a global country average of 67 percent.

*The 28-market survey was conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform. Ipsos interviewed a total of 19,510 adults ages 18-to-74 in the United States, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, and Turkey, and 16-to-74 in 23 other countries between May 21 and June 4, 2021. The sample consists of approximately 1,000 respondents in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Mainland China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 respondents in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, India, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and Turkey. For more information, go here.

Logo courtesy Tokyo Olympics 2021