WHAT THE DATA SAY: 77% of Americans plan to watch Olympics coverage

By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from Stagwell. Among the highlights of our weekly consumer sentiment tracking:

OLYMPIC VIEWERSHIP GOING FOR THE GOLD

The 2024 Olympics games are here, and Americans are tuning in, based on the latest Sports Momentum Index from Allison and The Harris Poll.

• 77% plan to watch or follow Olympic coverage – via broadcast TV (48%), streaming (33%) or social media (33%).
• The most popular sports for Americans to watch (in order): Gymnastics, swimming, basketball, track & field, diving, volleyball, beach volleyball, soccer, boxing and tennis.
• New Olympic sports also are generating strong interest: 32% are interested in watching breaking, 36% surfing, 37% skateboarding and 26% sport climbing.
• Olympian Shaun White’s launch of the Snow League last month is turning heads.
• American professional sports with the highest scores on July’s Sports Momentum Index are: National Football League (62.07 – up 7.7 points from February); World Surf League (55.77 – up 1.4 points); Major League Baseball (55.66 – up 6.9 points); Snow League (55.66 – new); and Professional Women’s Hockey League (54.02 – down 2.6 points).
• See also: Olympic viewership and the launch of Shaun White’s Snow League

YOUNG VOTERS SEE GENERATION GAP

Americans today believe older leaders cannot fully comprehend the needs of younger generations, based on our Harris Poll “The Next Big Think!” research.

• 78% of Americans believe many political leaders are too old to accurately represent the desires of younger Americans.
• 67% believe older generations are blocking the way for younger leaders (71% for Gen Z, 74% for Millennials, 68% for Gen X and 56% for Boomers).

ONLY 1 IN 5 CONFIDENT ABOUT RETIRING

While many issues dominate the upcoming presidential election, our Harris Poll survey with Transamerica Institute shows U.S. workers are more concerned than ever about retirement.

• Only 20% of Americans say they are very confident they can fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.
• 73% are concerned that Social Security will not be there for them when they retire.
• Workers’ top requests for policy-makers: addressing Social Security’s funding shortfalls (58%); dealing with Medicare’s funding shortfalls (46%); and ensuring all workers can save for retirement in the workplace (45%).

ICYMI

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• Latinos say they’re used as political pawns by politicians