The Summer and Winter Olympics are some of the biggest sporting events on the calendar. Occurring every four years, the Olympics see the world's best athletes in a variety of disciplines compete for a coveted Olympic medal. Public opinion regarding these athletes can vary. Simone Biles, an American Olympic gymnast, won **** gold medals at the 2016 Olympic Games and an additional bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, despite having to withdraw from several events due to her mental health. During an August 2021 survey in the United States, ** percent of all adult respondents stated that they had never heard of Simone Biles, while ** percent had a very favorable opinion of the athlete.

Millions of sports fans across the United States tune into the Summer Olympics, which were scheduled to be held in Tokyo in 2020 but were postponed to the following year as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In a survey among American adults in *********, a majority of respondents, ** percent, were familiar with Olympic gymnastics star Simone Biles. Meanwhile, ** percent of respondents were familiar with Olympic soccer player Megan Rapinoe.

During the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, some athletes received special attention on Twitter. According to data from June to August 2021, American artistic gymnast Simone Biles was the most mentioned athlete of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with 70,000 mentions on Twitter. Famous tennis player Novak Djokovic was also among the most discussed athletes on Twitter during the Olympic Games. He had 55,000 mentions. Another tennis player, Andy Murray, was the 10th most mentioned athlete of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, with 20,000 mentions. The most followed Olympic gold medalist at Tokyo 2020 was Kevin Durant.

During a July 2024 survey, it was found that the most followed athlete in the United States competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was Simone Biles. Biles is widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of her generation, having won a staggering four gold medals at her first Olympics, the Rio 2016 Games. In total, 63 percent of the U.S. population answered that they intended on following Biles' endeavors at Paris 2024.

The statistic shows figures on the daily viewership of Rio 2016 Olympics in the United States. The Closing Ceremony was watched by ***** million viewers. An average minute of the broadcast was watched by **** percent of adults aged 18 to 49. In total, ** percent of the age group tuned in.

Olympics TV viewership – additional information

The Olympic Games is one of the largest events in the sporting calendar, attracting millions of TV viewers when it takes place every four years. The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil drew in an average of **** million primetime viewers in the United States, which marks a decrease of *** million viewers from the 2012 Olympics in London. The Games in 2016 also saw a fall in the number of those who watched the Opening Ceremony. The ***** million television viewers who watched the opening ceremony in Rio is a fall from the record **** million viewers who watched the opening of the London Olympic Games in 2012.

During the Olympic Games in 2016, the peak TV viewership figures came on August 9, with ***** million tuning in to NBC to watch the day’s action, the equivalent of a ** percent share. This coincided with a successful day for the U.S. team, with *** gold medals being won in the pool and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team taking gold in the Women’s Team Final. August 11 was the only other day during the Rio Olympics that TV viewership topped ** million, as ***** million spectators watched Simone Biles win gold in Women’s Individual All-Around Gymnastics Final, with teammate Aly Raisman taking silver. This day also brought further success for the U.S. team in the pool as the women’s * x 200m freestyle relay team took gold ahead of Australia.

The decrease in Olympic TV viewership in 2016 compared to previous years illustrates the increasing use of other digital platforms, with ** percent of Olympic fans stating that they use their PC/laptop to watch sports coverage in the second quarter of 2016. This means that, by the Closing Ceremony of the Rio Olympics in 2016, over *** billion minutes of Rio 2016 coverage had been live streamed from NBC Olympics digital platforms.

Simone Biles was the most marketable athlete in the world in 2024. The legendary gymnast registered a marketability score of 96.16 based on his brand strength, market reach, and estimated worth.

As of January 2023, the most followed soccer player on Facebook was Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo with almost 122.3 million fans on the social network. The captain of the Portugal national team is also the most-followed person on Instagram. Athletes and social media Popular athletes are often celebrities in their own right with millions of fans worldwide. In terms of soccer players, doing well for your respective league or national team can also earn you the attention of prestigious sponsors, who are of course keen to be associated with popular athletes. Such is the nature of sponsorship and it is only a small step from sponsorship to promotional content on athletes’ personal social media profiles. The average media value per social media post of the most-followed athletes on Instagram can reach staggering heights: in January 2020, the average media value of an Instagram post by Cristiano Ronaldo was 985,441 U.S. dollars. Sponsor profile: Nike One of the most prolific sporting equipment and athletic apparel providers worldwide is Nike. Much of Nike's success can be attributed to the brand’s global marketing and promotional campaigns which employs sponsorship agreements with college athletic programs, professional sports teams and celebrity athletes to use their products for the promotion of their products. Top soccer players sponsored by Nike are Ronaldo (Portuguese national team), Neymar (Brazilian national team) and Kylian Mbappé (French national team). Other notable athletes with a Nike sponsorship are tennis players Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, gymnast Simone Biles and figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva. The brand is also the official sponsor of the NBA and WNBA in the United States.