Do Canadians Prefer the Summer or Winter Olympic Games?

On March 24, 2020, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Summer Games were officially postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.1

Currently, the Games are rescheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021, and this is a first: the Olympic Games have been cancelled before (during wartime), but never postponed.2 The Summer Paralympic Games are also postponed and are scheduled to take place from August 24 to September 5, 2021.3

The 2021 Summer Olympic Games will feature five additional sports on the programme: Baseball/Softball, Karate, Skateboarding, Sport Climbing, and Surfing.4

From June 26-28, 2020, we asked Canadians their opinions on the Olympic Games…here is what they told us! 

DO CANADIANS USUALLY WATCH THE SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES ON TV, AND IF SO, WHAT IS THEIR FAVOURITE EVENT TO WATCH?

Three-in-five (60%) Canadians report that they usually watch the Summer Olympic Games on TV.

Their Top 5 Favourite events to watch are:

  • Athletics (15%)
  • The Opening Ceremonies (11%)
  • Swimming (10%)
  • Diving (8%)
  • Artistic Gymnastics (7%)

Infographic: Top 3 Favourite Summer Olympic Games Events to Watch on TV

DO CANADIANS PREFER WATCHING THE SUMMER OR WINTER GAMES ON TV?

Do you like sports, and if so, do you prefer winter sports, like hockey, skating and skiing, or summer sports, like volleyball, soccer, or swimming? Do the sports you like to play correspond with the sports you like to watch?

When we asked Canadians, 33% said they enjoy watching both equally, 25% said they prefer watching the Winter Olympics, and 14% said they prefer watching the Summer Olympics. One-quarter (25%) said they do not watch the Olympic Games on TV; and 2% said they do not know which they prefer.

Infographic: Do Canadians Prefer Watching the Summer or Winter Olympic Games on TV?

DO CANADIANS AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT COMMERCIALS/ADVERTISING DURING THE OLYMPICS ADD TO THE ENTERTAINMENT OF WATCHING THE GAMES?

Commercials: some people love them, and some people have a, shall we say, less than favourable opinion.

One-third (33%) of Canadians agree that commercials/advertising during the Olympics add to the entertainment of watching the Games, and nearly half (48%) disagree. Approximately one-in-five (19%) are not sure.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

This web survey was conducted from June 26 to June 28, 2020, with 1,524 Canadians 18 years of age or older, randomly recruited from LEO’s online panel. Using data from the 2016 Census, the results were weighted by gender, age, mother tongue, region, education level and presence of children in the household in order to ensure a representative sample of the population.

The numbers presented have been rounded to the nearest whole number, however, raw values were used to calculate the sums presented and therefore, the sums may not correspond to the manual addition of the raw numbers.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES EVENT TO WATCH ON TV? TELL US IN THE COMMENTS BELOW! 

Sources (accessed June 25, 2020): 

1NBC News: Tokyo 2020 Olympics Postponed Over Coronavirus Concerns
2Olympic Channel: Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Postponed to 2021
3Tokyo 2020.org: New Dates: 23 July to 9 August 2021
4Olympic.org: IOC Approves Five New Sports for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Note: Leger and LEO are not affiliated or associated with the Canada Olympic Committee or the Olympic Games.

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