Only 35% of Americans plan to watch “a great deal” or “fair amount” of the Summer Olympics, a record low in Gallup polling that started with the 2000 Games.
The company reported Thursday that the number of adults planning to tune in regularly to the 2024 Paris Games is down from 48% who said the same before the 2016 Summer Olympics. It’s also down from slightly under 60% of those who responded to surveys conducted ahead of the quadrennial competition from 2000 to 2012.
An additional 34% of adults told Gallup they would watch “not much” of the Paris Games and 30% said they would watch “none.”
The poll found that 46% of adults surveyed didn’t even know the event was Paris, as disinterest surged in every demographic group.
“There have been larger drops over time among lower-income and younger Americans than their upper-income and older counterparts,” said Jeffrey M. Jones, a Gallup senior editor. “Meanwhile, men and women show similar declines in interest over time.”
According to Gallup, 54% of respondents correctly identified France as this year’s host country, down from 63% who knew Brazil hosted the 2016 Games and from more than 7 in 10 who knew the host countries from 2000 to 2012.
The company didn’t explain the lack of interest in this year’s event but noted growing differences in the education and politics of viewers.
Nearly half of those with a graduate degree plan to watch this year’s Games compared with 25% of adults with a high school diploma or less. Democrats are also 15 percentage points likelier than Republicans or independents to tune in. Both gaps have expanded significantly over time.
Interest in this year’s Games is also higher among women, people older than 50 and upper-income adults than younger, poorer and male viewers.
Female viewers will make women’s gymnastics — where America’s Simone Biles is competing to add to her total of four gold medals — this year’s most-watched event.
More than 4 in 10 adults said they plan to watch that competition compared with fewer than 1 in 10 for most other sports.
Nevertheless, Mr. Jones noted that “no major subgroup of Americans expresses high levels of interest” in this year’s competition.
Gallup conducted a randomized national telephone survey of 1,010 adults from July 1-21. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
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