Personally, the one sporting event I will tune into no matter what is the Olympics, and I think a majority of the population would agree.
Even if you don’t care about sports, people just can’t help but keep their eyes glued to the screen, no matter the event.
It’s not just the actual athletic events that are so exciting either. It’s everything that surrounds the event. From athletes posting on social media to the sheer patriotism and unity I feel flowing through my blood while watching a sport that I didn’t know the rules of 24 hours previously, it’s the pinnacle of sports.
With the closing ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 XXV Olympic Games on Feb. 22, 2026, I’ve taken some time to reflect, and I think this Olympics solidified one fact in my mind: the winter Olympics are so much better than the summer Olympics.
Yes, the summer has roughly triple the events, with 32 to 33 sports, about 329 events and around 10,000 athletes, while the winter features 16 sports, 116 medal events and only 2,500-3,000 athletes.
However, I don’t see people becoming obsessed with the art of skeleton and luge during the summer Olympics.
I’ve heard both Olympics compared in numerous ways, but it boils down to this, the summer has the “normal” sports, the ones everyone generally enjoys throughout the year.
I think the Winter Olympics convinced many people of this fact as well. There was a certain je ne sais quoi.
Maybe it was the ‘size matters’ skiing scandal, or a Canadian curler yelling the F-word after being accused of cheating. Perhaps it was TikTok and social media making it easier to fall in love with athletes.
The Winter Olympic sports fall into 3 categories: athletes with blades strapped to their feet, athletes doing death-defying acts and curling. Isn’t that just 20 times more fun to watch?
In this Olympic season alone, America’s Lindsey Vonn had to have surgery on her leg after racing on a torn ACL she acquired less than 2 weeks prior. Poland’s Kamila Sellier had to be stretchered off during the 1500 meter speed skate after American Kristen Santos-Griswold’s blade struck her face. Even Canada’s Tom Wilson and Frances Pierre Crinon were ejected from a qualification round of men’s ice hockey after an unsanctioned fight.
The viewership numbers reflect the popularity of Milano Cortina as well. The summer Olympics generally attract an average of over 3 billion viewers, with Paris 2024 exceeding 5 million, compared to the Winter Olympics, which average between 1.9 to 2 billion views, according to the Athens Journal of Sports.
However, in the United States alone, Milano Cortina 2026 has averaged 24.3 million viewers per day, increasing 88-93% compared to Beijing 2022’s 11.5 million viewers, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Yet, I think the popularity has spiked for other reasons.
Of course, social media, “Love Island” village and everyone’s general fascination with extreme sports are a huge part. The IOC even noted that one of the most-watched events in Brazil this year was Ski-Jumping. However, the real star of the show this year was hockey.
I am definitely going to attribute some of this to “Heated Rivalry,” the queer hockey-centered romance that became instantly popular in late 2025, causing considerable fan growth, especially among women, in the NHL. As a result, tickets surged 40% on sites like StubHub, according to Sports Illustrated. This was the first time in 12 years that NHL players were in the games, giving all the NHL fans, new and old, a reason to tune in.
This was also the first time in 16 years that both the US men’s and women’s gold medal games have faced Canada, one of the biggest rivalries in sport. The result was not only the women’s team clinching gold, but also the men’s team, a drought that’s lasted since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” game.
Both games also broke viewership records, with women’s peaking at 7.7 million views, becoming the most-watched women’s hockey game ever. Comparatively, the men’s was predicted at 16.1 million across North America according to NBC, with both ending in overtime, 2-1.
Another reason why I think summer is generally more popular is that the U.S. might not be the leader in Winter Olympic medals, like we are during the Summer Olympics, but the XXV Winter Olympics were one of the most exciting, patriotic and scandal-filled sports events I can remember, giving people a reason to return in 4 years.
From the peaks of the Dolomites to the ice in Milan, for everybody, from every country, it doesn’t matter if you prefer summer or winter, there’s something for everyone to love.
What Mike Tirico said in the last minute of the final event of the Games sums up pretty well why we become enamored by the Olympics, no matter the season: “Our country (USA) loves sports, and it brings us together unlike anything else.”
If sports are what unite us, then winter proved this year that it does them best.
