We partnered with Parity, the women’s sports marketing consultancy, to field a survey to understand global interest in the weeks leading up to the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. We surveyed adults across the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, and Australia on their sentiment toward the Games, athletes, competitions, brand sponsorships, and gender parity. A summary of the key findings follows:
- Canadians show significantly greater interest in the Winter Olympics than other countries
- Women’s events expected to see uptick in engagement; Canada leads all countries in increased viewership of women’s Olympic events
- Viewership for Paralympics is expected to increase over past Games, but still lower than Winter Olympics
- Americans are split on whether or not Olympic and Paralympic sponsors are investing enough in women’s sports, while underinvestment is the consensus across the UK, CA, and AU
- Being inspiring and informative are the leading drivers of attention to sponsors when it comes to catching viewers’ attention
Canadians show significantly greater interest in the Winter Olympics than other countries
Half of Canadians (49%) are excited for the 2026 Winter Olympics (% NET I’m looking forward to them at least a little bit / I could not be more excited for them), ahead of Australia (36%), the UK (31%), and the US (41%).
Two in three (66%) of Canadians report following content from previous Olympic Winter Games, with engagement significantly higher than those from Australia (53%), the UK (50%), and the US (60%). Despite higher levels of interest, all countries have similar levels of social media following Olympic athletes (23% AU, 24% CA, 23% UK, 22% US).
Canadians are also significantly more likely to follow sports overall for the Winter Olympics compared to other countries. While nearly one in five Australians (19%), those from the UK (22%), and Americans (18%) say they do not care for any men's sports in the upcoming Olympics, only 10% of Canadians are indifferent. Among those who express some degree of interest in following the upcoming Olympics. For women’s sports:
- Ice hockey remains the leading sport for Canadians (55%), followed by figure skating (45%).
- Figure skating is America's most popular sport, with more than half (54%) expecting to follow the sport in the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics.
- Australia’s top sports are figure skating (37%) and ski jumping (39%).
- The UK’s top sports are a tie between bobsled (33%), ski jumping (33%), figure skating (32%), and alpine skiing (31%).
For men’s sports:
- Hockey is the most popular men’s sport for Canadians, with two in three planning on following the sport (63%), compared to 26% of Australians, 26% in the UK, and 36% of Americans. All other sports are a distant second, including ski jumping (39%), alpine skiing (36%) and snowboarding (35%) as runner-up for Canadians' top men’s sports.
- Ski jumping (40%), snowboarding (38%), and figure skating (38%) are the most popular men’s sport for Americans.
- Ski jumping is the most popular men’s sport for Australians (40%), followed by snowboarding (34%), and bobsled (32%).
- Ski jumping is the most popular men’s sport for those in the UK (39%), followed by bobsled (35%, and alpine skiing (32%).
For mixed-gender sports, featuring both men and women competing together on the same team:
- Figure skating (pairs) is the top sport for Canadians (44%) and Americans (48%), followed by figure skating ice dance (40% for CA and 43% for the US).
- Figure skating (pairs) (32%) and ski jumping (30%) are the top sports for Australia.
- Figure skating (pairs) (28%), figure skating (ice dance) (28%), ski jumping (27%), and snowboarding (25%) are the top sports for the UK.
Women’s events expected to see uptick in engagement; Canada leads all countries in increased engagement with women’s Olympic events
One in five (20%) of Canadians expect to follow more women’s events this year compared to past Olympic Games, slightly but significantly ahead of Australians (16%), those in the UK (17%), and nearly double that of Americans (12%).
Viewership for Paralympics is expected to increase over past Games, but still lower than Winter Olympics
One in three (36%) adults in the US who say they are excited about the upcoming Winter Paralympics expect to follow the Games more this year than in the past.
- More than one in three (37%) Canadians plan to tune into para ice hockey
- 27% of Americans plan on watching para ice hockey and men’s para snowboarding (both 27%), along with women’s para alpine skiing (26%), women’s para snowboarding (25%), and men’s para alpine skiing (25%).
- 25% of Australians plan on watching men’s and women’s para snowboarding, followed by para ice hockey (23%), and para alpine skiing (22%).
- Nearly one in four in the UK plan on following:
- men’s para snowboarding (25%)
- wheelchair curling (24%)
- women’s para snowboarding (23%)
- para ice hockey (23%)
- men’s para alpine skiing (23%)
- women’s para alpine skiing (23%)
However, the Paralympics received lower overall rates of enthusiasm. One in four (26%) Canadians are slightly looking forward to (22%) or could not be more excited for (4%) the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games, on par with Australians (27%), those in the UK (25%), and higher than Americans (20%). Paralympic athletes also have fewer followers on social media (19% for AU, 14% for CA, 17% for UK, and 10% in the US).
The US trails in advocating for gender equality among women and men athletes
When asked about the importance of women and men athletes to be treated equally at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, 59% of Americans agreed that it is important (% very/somewhat important). In comparison, at least three in four in Australia (76%), Canada (77%), and the UK (79%) rated the issue as important.
When it comes to equal treatment, three areas come to mind: funding, media coverage, and rules and judging criteria. Each criterion ranks the top three aspects across all four countries.
| In your opinion, which of the following represent equality between men and women athletes at the Olympics and Paralympic Games? (Select all that apply) | ||||
| Australia | Canada | UK/IE | United States | |
| #Unweighted N | 2116 | 2293 | 2581 | 4693 |
| Same funding support from country | 53% | 56% | 58% | 45% |
| Same amount of media coverage | 49% | 52% | 54% | 46% |
| Same rules or judging criteria | 44% | 46% | 48% | 43% |
| The exact same sports are offered for men and women | 42% | 39% | 43% | 34% |
| Compete in the same number of sports or events | 35% | 36% | 38% | 32% |
| Equal number of athletes compete at the Games | 31% | 36% | 34% | 32% |
| Same competition courses | 27% | 28% | 28% | 26% |
Americans are split on whether or not Olympic and Paralympic sponsors are investing enough in women’s sports, while underinvestment is the consensus across the UK, CA, and AU
Four in ten Americans (43%) believe sponsors are not investing enough in women’s sports, equal to the percentage of those who think they are investing the right amount (42%). Only 6% believe there is too much investment in women’s sports.
In contrast, those in Australia, Canada, and the UK who think sponsors are not investing enough outnumber those who think there are sufficient levels of investment.
- 46% of Australians think sponsors are not investing enough, compared to 40% who believe there is the right amount of investment
- 48% of Canadians think sponsors are not investing enough, compared to 40% who believe there is the right amount of investment
- 54% in the UK think sponsors are not investing enough, compared to 37% who believe there is the right amount of investment
Being inspiring and informative are the leading drivers of attention to sponsors when it comes to catching viewers’ attention
Four in ten consumers from Australia (38%), Canada (40%), and the US (41%) say content or advertisements that are inspirational catches their attention during the Olympic or Paralympic Games.
- Canadians are equally attracted to content or ads that are informative (39%)
- Americans are also highly attracted to informative content or ads (38%).
- Content that is inspirational (35%) is equally attractive as those that are informative (33%) and content takes a stand for something consumers agree with (33%) are the top attributes for those in the UK.
- Australians also gravitate towards informative content or ads (34%).
| What catches your attention from a sponsor during the Olympics and/or Paralympics? (Select all that apply) | ||||
| Australia | Canada | UK/IE | United States | |
| #Unweighted N | 1472 | 1682 | 1739 | 3274 |
| If the content/advertisement is inspirational | 38% | 40% | 35% | 41% |
| If the content/advertisement is informative | 34% | 39% | 33% | 38% |
| If the product is a good “fit” for the athlete | 32% | 30% | 32% | 29% |
| If the content/advertisement takes a stand for something I agree with | 28% | 32% | 33% | 29% |
| If the content/advertisement is funny | 27% | 32% | 26% | 33% |
| If the content/advertisement is inclusive of people from different backgrounds | 28% | 28% | 30% | 30% |
| If they work with an athlete I like/care about | 19% | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| If they work with an athlete I am familiar with | 18% | 18% | 17% | 16% |
Methodology
This SurveyMonkey online poll was conducted in partnership with Parity, the women’s sports marketing consultancy, January 15-21, 2026 among a sample of 4,693 adults 18+ in the U.S., 2,116 adults 18+ in Australia. 2,293 adults 18+ in Canada, and 2,581 adults 18+ in the UK/IE. Respondents for this survey were selected from the more than 2 million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points in the US, and 2.0 in the UK, Canada, and Ireland. Data in the US have been weighted for age, race, sex, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over. Data in the UK, Australia, and Canada were weighted for age and sex using data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to reflect the demographic composition of those countries.
