The results were mixed, which mattered for what came next
The strategy did not produce an immediate ratings turnaround. Tokyo 2021 became the least-watched Olympics on record in several major markets, undercutting the argument that new youth-oriented sports alone would fix the audience problem. Paris 2024 fared far better overall, averaging 30.6 million viewers across NBCUniversal's coverage in the United States, an 82 percent jump from Tokyo, but that recovery tracked the Games as a whole rather than proving out any single new sport's drawing power on its own.
