Nearly three-quarters of Utahns are either already watching the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games or intend to tune in before Sunday’s Closing Ceremonies, according to the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll.
“That’s a great number,” said Fraser Bullock, president and executive chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, crediting the state’s status as both a former and future Winter Games host.
“Once a community has hosted the Games, we have a different connection to the Olympics,” he said. Utah, the site of the 2002 Winter Games, was named a year and a half ago by the International Olympic Committee to host again, in 2034.
“This is the first Winter Games since we won the bid,” Bullock said. “I think the attention is heightened because we know we are the next Games so that puts a special light on watching these athletes compete.”
During the ceremonies Sunday that will mark the end of 17 days of Olympic competition throughout northern Italy, there will be a handoff to the host of the next Winter Games in 2030, the French Alps.
A sizable 44% of Utahns polled said they’ve already seen some of the Olympic action from Italy, while another 19% are planning to watch. Another 31% weren’t interested and 6% weren’t sure whether they would watch or not.
The poll was conducted Feb. 11-14 of 769 registered voters in Utah by Morning Consult for the Deseret News and the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.
A national Deseret News-Hinckley Institute poll showed a slightly smaller U.S. audience for the Winter Games in Italy. That poll, also conducted by Morning Consult but from Feb. 10-13, found 60% of Americans are either watching the Olympics or planning to, and 32% skipping the event.
Jason Perry, head of the Hinckley Institute, said it’s not surprising that Utahns are paying closer attention to the Milan-Cortina Games than the rest of the country.
“In Utah, the Olympics are not just another international sporting event. Many families here remember 2002 firsthand,” Perry said. “Winter sports are part of our communities, our economy and our identity.”
And, he said, “with 2034 on the horizon, there is a renewed sense that the Winter Games are connected to our future as well as our past.”
NBCUniversal, which holds the U.S. broadcast rights to the Olympics through 2036, announced last week that viewership of this year’s Olympics at that point was double what the TV network and other platforms saw during the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
“Salt Lake City is among the top markets as is customary for a Winter Games,” NBC Sports Communication Vice President Dan Masonson told the Deseret News, adding there will be an update soon on ratings for KSL-TV as well as other local stations.
KSL Chief of Content Ruth Todd said Salt Lake City is historically in the top five markets for Olympic viewing and frequently in the top spot, based on the share of available audience by market.
She said NBC is airing more than 230 hours of Milan-Cortina Olympic coverage on broadcast TV, including 47 hours during the 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. prime time slot, along with various streaming options on Peacock.
“Utah’s Olympic legacy runs deep — rooted in the 2002 Winter Games, fueled by a thriving winter sports culture, and strengthened by the many Olympians who live and train here," Todd said. “We love the outdoors year-round, but winter is where Utah truly sparkles.”