This weekend the Winter Olympics start on NBC, and I know everyone in America is on the edge of their seats. (I realize sarcasm does not translate well in the written word, so I'll point out that the previous statement was meant to be sarcastic). I should also point out that NBC instead of spending money securing rights to NBA or MLB games decided instead to lock-up the Olympics long-term, which could lose up to $200 million this year, and Notre Dame football, who haven't been good in years. The executive responsible for these shrewd programming decisions, Dick Ebersol, was just extended until 2015 at somewhere between $10-$15 million. Clearly, NBC isn't too busy ruining late-night to take some time to sabotage their sports department as well.
But this article is not about incompetent executives or their terrible business decisions...this is about the Olympics, and me trying to determine why people have no interest in them.
1. One of the first lessons learned in sports marketing is that America favors their professional leagues while Europeans live for international competition. This is probably because European countries are all so close to one another, so it is easier for a rivalry to build, and because America has enough heated match-ups in their own sports. It also hurts that America has never excelled at soccer which is the premier international sport in the eyes of our friends across the Atlantic. The only time we ever developed an interest in international competition is when we felt the need to display our superiority. Since sports are now big business, the best players of other nations now come to the United States to play, so the highest competition in most sports is right in our own backyard.
2. With Television packages showing every single game by every local team and major networks showing the match-ups of the best teams in the nation, there is an abundance of sports goodness every evening on television. Back when the Olympics were popular, they were the only sports on TV. Now, there are so many contests of familiar sports, that the American people are more emotionally invested in that they have no interest in watching the Olympics.
3. The United States likes stars and story-lines. Yes, Bob Costas does plenty of profiles of athletes to attempt to get the American people in their corners, but with the Winter and Summer Olympics switching off, and having 4 years between each competition, it is impossible for Americans to follow certain athletes when they're not seeing them every day.
4. Time Zone Difference. This is not the case this year, with the Olympics so close to home, but most of the time there is a substantial time difference, which causes NBC to delay the popular events so they can show them in prime-time. The only problem with that, is with the internet, everyone already knows the outcome and it ruins the surprise and excitement of it all.
5. Drama. We are used to last-second buzzer beaters, walk-off grand slams, and 4th and goal down-by-a-touchdown situations. All those situations involve one team getting the best of another team. That drama can not be matched by people sliding down ice only competing with a clock. I have nothing but the utmost respect for every athlete, and their respective sports, but sports is a form of entertainment, and the sports the American people have embraced also happen to be the most entertaining.
-- Steve Creswick
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