The Olympics Are Experiencing the Same Viewership Collapse as All Sports
By Daniel Greenfield
It’s not just the audiences that are absent from the stadiums, Olympics viewership is sharply down. The 30-year ratings low can’t be too much of a surprise after professional sports in the United States have seen record low ratings even for major events.
Sports require camaraderie. Why bother watching if there’s no one to root for?
The old Team USA spirit is long since gone and while the disproportionate media coverage being given to Megan Rapinoe doesn’t help, but across the board, Team USA doesn’t seem very American.
Where the athletes of other nations seem proud to carry their flag, representing the hopes and aspirations of a united country, the culture wars initiated by leftists have sharply divided and fragmented our country. Rapinoe is a symptom of the problem, not the cause.
We keep hearing that Team USA from each Olympics is “more diverse than ever”. It also seems to be underperforming more than ever.
The diversity mantra hasn’t brought us together, it’s dividing us. Athletes conceal their obvious mercenary motives with woke virtue signaling. Audiences, divided tribally, have no interest in cheering players and competitors whom they don’t feel represent their group. Divisions that were once swept under the unity of the red, white, and blue now define everything.
Sports were once a symbol of national and international aspirations. And in some countries they still might be, but here in Mudville, woke sports have once again struck out.