- One nationwide survey found snowboarding is the most popular Winter Olympic sport.
- Another nationwide poll shows most fans like figure skating best.
- Americans' Winter Games viewing habits are shifting away from cable TV.
The U.S. figure skating team defended its Olympic crown, winning a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Games this week. American Chloe Kim topped the leaderboard in women’s halfpipe qualifying, but settled for silver after taking gold in the previous two Olympics.
Figure skating with its quadruple jumps and Salchows and snowboarding with its triple cork 1440s and method grabs draw the most fan interest among Winter Olympic sports, according to surveys conducted before the Games started.
Reviews.org, which does market research on internet providers and mobile services, asked 1,000 Americans which Winter Olympic sports they were most likely to watch. Snowboarding topped the list at 62%.
Once an Olympic novelty, snowboarding has come of age in the Winter Games since its halfpipe and giant slalom debuts in 1998. This year it features 11 events — men’s and women’s halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, snowboardcross, big air and slopestyle along with mixed team snowboardcross.
Ski jumping (58%), figure skating (56%), hockey (54%) and speed skating (53%) were the next four sports Americans were most likely to watch, per the survey.
Ilia Malinin, who is known as the “Quad God” has positioned himself for a second gold medal in men’s figure skating. He already helped the U.S. secure gold in the team event.
Most popular Winter Olympic sport in each state
Reviews.org also identified the most popular sport by state. Snowboarding dominated the West, ranking first in California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico.
Perhaps curiously, snowboarding, or skiing for that matter, wasn’t at the top of the list in Utah. The Beehive State went for bobsledding. Maybe having the Utah Olympic Park bobsled, luge and skeleton track in Park City has something to do with that.
Here’s the breakdown nationwide:
- Curling: 13 states (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia)
- Figure skating: 10 states (Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia)
- Snowboarding: 7 states (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Vermont, Wyoming)
- Luge: 6 states (Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Rhode Island, South Carolina)
- Short-track speedskating: 2 states (Illinois, New Hampshire)
- Ice hockey: 1 state (Minnesota)
- Biathlon: 1 state (Montana)
- Bobsled: 2 states (Oregon, Utah)
- Speedskating: 1 state (Wisconsin)
A Seton Hall Sports poll of 1,596 U.S. adults conducted at the end of January differentiated between participants among the general population, Olympic fans and casual fans. Its results were similar to but not the same as the Reviews.org survey.
Figure skating with 59% of Olympic fans and 53% of female fans was the sport they were most excited to watch, per ESPN. Snowboarding followed with 33% of casual fans, 42% of Olympic fans, 26% of male fans and 27% of female fans.
How Americans are watching the Olympics
Reviews.org found that 72% of Americans plan to watch the Milan Cortina Games. However, the way they plan to tune in is shifting.
The Olympics have been a longtime broadcast staple, but 2026 may mark a tipping point in how people tune in.
“While cable TV is still the main way people plan to watch on the big screen, social media has overtaken it as the most popular method for keeping up with the action; 64% of respondents plan to catch clips on platforms like TikTok and Instagram,” according to the group.
- 64% plan to watch the Olympics via social media clips
- 59% plan to watch coverage on traditional TV or cable
- 57% plan to watch coverage on a streaming service or app
- 35% plan to watch free, over-the-air coverage via their local NBC station
NBC reported Thursday said that viewership of Milan Cortina Olympics is up substantially over the first five days compared to the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
U.S. coverage is averaging 26.5 million viewers across the broadcast network, the Peacock streaming service, other NBCUniversal digital platforms, and Versant’s CNBC and USA Networks, per Front Office Sports. That marks a 93% increase from the comparable period in 2022 and represents the most-watched Winter Games at this point since the 2014 Olmpics in Sochi, Russia.
