Women’s sports lead the way again in 2024 Paris Olympics

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games shattered viewership records over the course of the two and half weeks, particularly, women’s sport events led the way with higher prime time viewership numbers.

As the Olympics kicked off, 28.6 million viewers watched the opening ceremonies which featured basketball star LeBron James and tennis sensation Coco Gauff as flag bearers for the United States on NBC and the streaming service Peacock.

Overall, NBC’s primetime viewership averaged 31.6 million in the first two weeks of the Paris Olympic Games which was up over 75% from the 2020 Tokyo Games during comparable times. Maybe even more noteworthy was Peacock, which has only been leveraged since 2021 to cover the Olympics, had a historic 20.3 billion minutes of streamed coverage during the Paris Olympic Games. Again, these numbers are up compared to the Tokyo and Beijing Games.

Engaging storylines made this Olympic cycle a must watch event as women athletes like gymnast sensation Simone Biles became the most decorated American gymnast of all time and bounced back from the Tokyo Olympics where she pulled out of competition due to her mental health. 12.7 million fans tuned in for the all-around event to watch Biles win gold and Suni Lee take bronze for the US.

At Stade de France, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record for the 400 meter race running a 50.65 in the event. Swimming legend Katie Ledecky won two gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in the pool. As it has become custom for Ledecky she won gold in the 1500m event setting a new Olympic record where historic shots of her as the only swimmer on screen for the finish have become a social media sensation.

The US women’s rugby team took the world by storm winning the bronze medal on a last second play that scored them the winning try. The team has burst into the limelight through social media sensation Ilona Maher and after receiving a $4 million gift to fund the team’s future endeavors from businesswoman Michelle Yang, who also owns the Washington Spirit team within the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The US women’s national team defeated Brazil to win the gold medal attracting an average of 9 million viewers across NBC’s platforms making it the most watched gold medal soccer game since 2004 in Athens. This was the first Olympic medal for new coach Emma Hayes who only took over the team on June 1. USA women’s basketball led by the consistent play of WNBA MVP front runner A’ja Wilson held on to their dynasty winning their eighth gold medal in a row over France on Sunday. The team won a tight game against France 67-66, fending off a last second attempt by Gabby Williams to tie the game and force overtime. The gold medal game, despite its early start, had a peak viewership of 10.9 million fans.

Women’s sports led NBC’s primetime coverage compared to men’s sports for the fifth Olympics in a row and sixth overall (previously, Beijing-2022, Tokyo-2020, PyeongChang-2018, Rio-2016, and London-2012). Women’s sports received 51.12% of NBC’s primetime Paris coverage, while men’s sports received 47.04% of the coverage; the remainder featured mixed-sex events (1.84%).

In a year of unprecedented attention and buzz for women’s sports, the Olympics were no different. Now the question is will fans tune into these stars as they return home to play in their respective leagues? Women’s Elite Rugby is starting its inaugural season in the US in 2025. Players for USA women’s basketball and the USWNT return home for the remainder of their WNBA (starting back August 15) and NWSL (starting back August 23) seasons to fight for championships in addition to their gold medals.

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