The Sports Examiner: Tokyo global audience confirmed at 3.05 billion, down 15% from 2012

● From our sister site, TheSportsExaminer.com ●

“Hold the happiness. We are in trouble.”

Cleavon Little’s memorable line from Mel Brooks’ bawdy 1974 western satire “Blazing Saddles” is an appropriate reminder than the confirmation of a global audience of 3.05 billion – with a “b” – for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is perhaps not as wonderful as it might seem.

That’s a lot of people, no doubt, but it confirms a continuing, worrying decline in worldwide consumption of the Olympic Games. Yes, really.

The International Olympic Committee’s Marketing Report Tokyo 2020 noted that the total worldwide audience for the Games was 3.05 billion, which includes both television and online viewers.

Of these, 64% watched the Games on both television and online, with a staggering total of 23 billion hours watched all together. Even with all of the hype about being the first “streaming Games,” some 93% of all viewing was on television, even with 28 billion video views of the Games. Great, right? Let’s compare to the recent past:

● 2021 Tokyo: 3.05 billion combined TV and digital viewers

● 2016 Rio: 3.2 billion on TV (also 1.3 billion digital users)

● 2012 London: 3.6 billion on TV (also 1.2 billion digital users)

● 2008 Beijing: 3.5 billion on TV (also 400 million digital users)

Although not called out by number, the Tokyo report states that there were 74% more digital users than for Rio, so the Tokyo total would be about 2.3 billion, but about two-thirds of these also watched the Games on television. That would leave at least 828 million who consumed the Games online only, meaning the TV-only total could be 2.22 billion or slightly less (the report does not call out these figures).

So, in comparison to recent Games, the Tokyo outreach total is down at least 4.7% compared to Rio in 2016, down 15.3% vs. London in 2012 and 12.9% vs. Beijing in 2008, using the total audience for Tokyo compared to the TV-only audiences for 2016-12-08.

This is going in the wrong direction, and the 2008 vs. 2021 comparison is especially troubling since both Games were in the same time zone. A major deterioration in the total U.S. audience is clearly part of the issue, but the magnitude of the total decline – for the second straight Games – is well beyond just the U.S.

The report quite properly notes that the quality and quantity of the production was unequaled in the history of the Games, and that the contribution of sponsors, both of the IOC and the 67 domestic partners of the Tokyo organizing committee, was immense and record-setting. In fact, this is understated.

Also, the IOC’s direct support of 1,836 athletes from 186 nations through Olympic scholarships (costing $47 million) and the Olympic Refugee Team is impressive and not appreciated enough.

And it is worth noting that the same research firm – Publicis – also did the worldwide audience measurement for the FIFA World Cup in Russia for 2018, with 3.572 billion people watching at least some of the 64 games in that tournament: +17% vs. the Tokyo Games in 2021. It will be worth noting what happens at this year’s World Cup in November.

~ Rich Perelman