Figure Skating The Most Popular Winter Olympic Sport as Ice Hockey ranks disappointingly

The 2022 Winter Olympics is scheduled to take place over the month of February, with the huge sporting event that is held every four years commencing on the 4th and running until the 20th across Beijing, China.

The multi-international sporting event will have plenty to offer those who decide to support the athletes that represent their countries across the 15 disciplines, as there are a total of 109 events to take place across a total of seven different sports. Indeed, it is not just the fans that are able to get hyped and interested in what may happen in Beijing, with Unibet having already provided sports betting enthusiasts with a number of Winter Olympic odds across a variety of different markets too!

Although the competition runs across a period that is just a little longer than two weeks, it would seem that there are a handful of sports that will likely attract more viewers than others when they take place, with a recent study having found out some interesting data.

Figure Skating is the most popular sport

A recent study conducted by YouGov found that figure skating was the most popular Olympic Winter sport across the United States of America, whilst it also proved to be rather popular with people in the United Kingdom.

According to the data found, it was revealed that two in five Americans followed figure skating with around 40%, although it would seem that there was a huge difference in regard to the gender of those who watch it and keep up to date with the events on the ice. The report found that just 29% of men would remain interested which is significantly lower than the 53% of women that would.

In the United Kingdom, figure skating was found to be more popular amongst women than men, with 36% of females interested compared to just 10% of males.

Ski Jumping follows

When taking a look at the next most popular sport at the Winter Olympics, ski jumping also appears to rank very highly amongst viewers, with around 33%. The male audience is slightly larger than the female audience, with 35% of men compared to 30% of women following the event closely.

Indeed, there is every chance that the popularity of the overall sport could increase after Beijing’s Games, though, as a new event will have taken place for the very first time in this sporting discipline: the mixed team event.

It should be noted that ski jumping does also exist as one of the most popular sports for viewers in the United Kingdom, as well.

Speed Skating and Bobsleigh popular Winter Olympics sports

Ranking third and fourth amongst Americans for the most popular Winter Olympic sports is speed skating and bobsleigh.

The speed skating discipline appears to attract a third of American fans to follow the event, with the demographics being rather similar as 35% of men and 30% of women continue to follow the highly exciting sport. Interestingly, speed skating is not as popular in the United Kingdom and ranks rather lowly, with just 16% interested.

The bobsleigh event appears to attract more American male viewers than women, with 31% compared to 24% taking an interest, although the new monobob event could help to boost female appeal as this will see only female athletes compete in it. The same level of interest is experienced in the UK for this particular discipline, though.

Curling also deserves a mention as the sporting event enjoys the same amount of interest across the U.S. and UK, with 19% and 20% taking an interest.

Ice hockey does not rank as highly as perhaps thought

Given that ice hockey is a major professional sport across North America with the National Hockey League (NHL), it is perhaps a surprise that the event is not the most popular at the Winter Olympics.

However, it could be argued that many either prefer to watch the professional game due to the competitiveness, or they are simply tired of seeing even more given how many fixtures are played in a season.

It should be noted that there is a huge divide in regard to viewership for the sport, as whilst there is just under a quarter of fans watching the event (24%), 30% of men tune in whilst only 17% of women do.

The numbers are similar in the UK in regard to gender split, as 15% of men compared to the 8% of women from the overall 11% of Olympic fans following it continue to watch regularly.

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