Excitement for the 2024 Paris Games greater than for Tokyo; French enthusiasm lukewarm
Across 33 countries people see the event as having a positive unifying effect and inspiring future generations
Major global sporting events can stoke loud cheers, tears of joy, as well as a few jeers.
Our new global polling finds the vast majority (72% on average across 33 countries) think the Games in Paris will bring their country together and 57% say they’re interested in the event. This is up from 46% who said they were interested in the lead up to the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, which were postponed until July-August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
People in the host country, though, are notably less enthused. The French rank 28 out of 33 countries in terms of interest, with almost half (46%) of people in France saying they’re not interested. They’re even lower on the list, coming in 31 out of 33 countries, when it comes to whether the event will bring their country together, with 54% saying it will and 46% saying it won’t.
That some people in France aren’t quite in the spirit of things quite yet isn’t all that surprising given the Games, running from July 26 – August 11, will disrupt Parisians day-to-day lives, will cost about €9 billion and is being held amid several serious crises. Yet, almost three in five (72%) globally and 69% of those in France agree the Games should go ahead, regardless of the world's economy and conflicts, for example, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and 75% agree the event will be an important opportunity to come together.
Meanwhile, 72% agree it’s important that global events like these happen despite the climate impact of travel and construction. Organizers have honed in on environmental issues this time around and claim this will be the “greenest Games ever.”
Watching the best and brightest compete is a chance to forget all the problems in the world and be swept up in the spectacle. And a strong majority (80%) agree the sporting event will inspire tomorrow’s generation to participate in sport, with people in Indonesia (95%), China (92%) and India (91%) the most likely to think this. While there’s always some complaining on the long road to the Games once athletes from all corners of the world unite at the opening ceremony the positive vibes usually really ramp up and this year people are most excited to see football/soccer (28%), athletics (28%) and gymnastics (20%). Fans in Latin America are already amped up for the beautiful game, with people in Argentina (55%), Peru (50%) and Colombia (47%) the most interested in seeing football/soccer. On the flipside, sport climbing (3%) and surfing (3%, both first introduced in 2021), along with breakdancing (3%, new this year) are eliciting the least excitement.
