Every four years, millions of Americans join billions around the world to celebrate the incredible athletic achievements at the Summer Olympics. Sports that are typically overlooked in U.S. media, like swimming and track, suddenly take the spotlight. While national teams compete in world championships every year, it’s during the Olympics that casual fans rally behind the red, white, and blue. What is it about the Olympics that captures our attention in a way that only soccer’s World Cup can rival? And why do we cheer for sports that are otherwise unfamiliar to us?
As a sports studies scholar with a keen interest in fandom, I have found that sports affiliations are crucial to the identities of millions. For many Americans, identifying as a Packers, Lakers, or Notre Dame fan takes precedence over their job, religion, or ethnic heritage. They organize their lives around their teams’ schedules, show their support through attire, and build communities with fellow fans. This is fundamentally a storytelling process, intertwining a team’s victories and challenges with fans’ personal experiences.
Much like religious communities, fans want to see their values reflected in their team and its stars, valuing athletes who engage in community service or charitable activities that align with their beliefs. These meaningful connections develop over long periods, creating imagined relationships between athletes and fans. Unlike typical team loyalties, the Olympics don’t demand day-to-day or seasonal devotion. They enter Americans’ lives in intense two-week bursts every few years, filling viewers with amazement as they watch mostly unfamiliar athletes. This creates a unique sports narrative. Why, then, do spectators feel such a strong connection with athletes and fellow fans?
To explain the strength of sports affiliation, scholars often refer to political scientist Benedict Anderson’s concept of “imagined communities.” Anderson proposed that people are drawn to feel connected to a larger group, even one so large that they don’t know most of its members, like an entire nation. For Anderson, the feeling of being “American” stems more from collective imagination and community desire than from technical citizenship details. Despite diverse American experiences and a divisive political climate, people still want to believe in a shared national identity that Team USA embodies on the global stage. By wrapping athletes in flag-themed uniforms, the Olympics engage casual viewers, even when most competitors are obscure. The opening ceremony’s flag parade sets the stage, encouraging viewers to cheer for their country.
However, the desire for an “imagined community” isn’t enough to explain viewers’ emotional investment in athletes like a young canoeist going for gold or a wrestler overcoming health issues to compete. There’s another factor: the media spotlight of NBC Sports. NBC has held exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to the Summer and Winter Games since 1988 and 2002, respectively, investing billions to feature the iconic Olympic rings beneath the network’s rainbow peacock logo. In 2014, NBC paid $7.65 billion for the rights to the Games from 2021 to 2032. With such a significant investment, NBC aims to maximize American attention and boost their bottom line. Historically, they’ve succeeded, with prime-time viewers peaking at 27 million on average in 2016. The Tokyo 2020 Games, delayed by the pandemic, saw viewership drop to 15.5 million, its lowest for a Summer Olympics, though digital views and streaming increased for both the Tokyo and Beijing 2022 Games.
NBC’s Olympic coverage is not impartial or unfiltered. The network often downplays criticism of the Games’ administration, host nations, and the IOC. In fostering an “imagined community,” NBC focuses on storytelling, including play-by-play commentary, graphics, and interviews, but also extensively profiles American athletes, highlighting their families, adversities, and other emotional narratives. These athletes become central figures in viewers’ understanding of the Olympics, with their stories crafted to engage fans emotionally and keep them tuned in. For instance, will sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson overcome her past heartbreak and succeed on the Olympic stage?
Athletic feats can impress in local settings as well as on TV. Ultimately, it’s the connection to something larger – to athletes and viewers worldwide – that draws so many to watch the Olympics every four years.