July 24, 2025
With the excitement of the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympic Games hosted in Paris from July 26 – August 11, over half Canadians will be watching the Games as Team Canada competes on the global stage across 34 different events, including one brand new event (breaking, or break-dancing) and a twist on a sport that debuted in Tokyo 2020 (sport climbing).
Six in ten (60%) Canadians say they plan on watching the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games, either live or by following along with recaps. In contrast, approximately two in ten (21%) do not plan on watching any, while another two in ten (20%) are undecided if they will watch or not.
Although several events at this year’s Games are expected to garner strong interest, three in ten (31%) Canadians say they are most excited to watch the gymnastics competitions. Other events causing the most excitement include swimming (27%), and athletics/track and field (26%). Shortly after Canada’s impressive fourth-place finish in the 2024 Copa America tournament, a notable proportion of Canadians are also most excited to watch soccer (26%) at the 2024 Olympics, followed closely by basketball (23%).
Alongside traditional events offered at the Games, two additional competitions have been introduced to the Olympic program for Paris 2024: breaking (A.K.A. break-dancing) and sport climbing, which is returning to the Olympics after undergoing significant changes. Although both breaking and the reorganized sport climbing events are expected to capture viewers’ attention, more Canadians plan to watch sport climbing (38%) compared to breaking (33%). On the contrary, one-quarter (24%) of Canadians are uninterested in watching either of the forementioned new events, while two in ten (18%) are undecided if they will watch or not. As background, in Tokyo 2020, athletes showcased their expertise in a single competition that combined three skillsets: bouldering, lead, and speed. This year, the speed competition will be its own event, while bouldering and lead will be a combined event, allowing for greater athlete specialization and offering an additional opportunity for a medal.
Results are from an online survey conducted in partnership between Narrative Research and the Logit Group. The survey was conducted between July 9 – 10, 2024 with 1,231 Canadians from the Logit Group’s online Canadian Omnibus. Data were weighted based on the 2016 Census, by gender, age, and region to reflect actual population distribution, and data tables are available upon request.
For more information, please contact:
Margaret Chapman, COO & Partner, Narrative Research – 902.493.3834, mchapman@narrativeresearch.ca
OR
Sam Pisani, Managing Partner, Logit Group – 416.629.4116, sam.pisani@logitgroup.com
Narrative Research (www.narrativeresearch.ca), is a non-partisan, 100% Canadian-owned, research company, certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE). Narrative Research provides clients with state-of-the-art research and strategic consulting services.
The Logit Group (https://logitgroup.com/) is a leading North American data collection and market research execution company headquartered in Toronto, conducting large-scale projects for a variety of well-known research agencies and brands. Logit employs industry-best technologies across an array of methodologies, and is independent, experienced and quality-oriented.
