Here at Parity, we are all in on the Olympics because we see opportunity on all sides. We’ve proven the ROI for brands that partner with Olympic athletes, and we’re stoked to cheer on the 50+ members of our athlete community who are about to compete in Milano Cortina.
But what really, really, really excites us is that people across the world are ready to cheer too. Yes, the world.
In partnership with SurveyMonkey, we surveyed nearly 12,000 adults from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia to better understand interest in Winter Olympic competition, perceptions of equality, and expectations for brand sponsorship investment.
Here’s what we learned.
Notes: All stats below reflect a combined international perspective, unless otherwise specified. Details about research methodology are listed at the end.
We asked survey respondents how they felt about the upcoming Winter Olympic Games – and which sports they were planning to follow. (We also asked respondents about the Paralympics, and will be releasing that data in a separate post ahead of the Winter Paralympics.)
Women’s figure skating is the most popular event at the Winter Olympic Games. It bests men’s figure skating in popularity by a full 15 percentage points. That’s the largest difference in popularity between a men’s and women’s event at the Winter Games.
While the margins are slimmer than in figure skating, women’s events are more or equally as popular as the men’s events in 10 of the 15 sports at the Winter Olympics that host both men’s and women’s competitions. (The Nordic combined remains the lone Olympic sport that does not offer a single women’s event, but we’ll come back to that.)
This popularity demonstrates that women’s sports are central to how audiences experience the Games, with fans and casual viewers alike understanding women’s events to be synonymous with the Games’ marquee moments.
We can also break it down by country to see which sports rise to the top in different regions. Not surprisingly, ice hockey takes the cake for most popular men’s and women’s sports in Canada, while ski jumping really shines in the U.K./Ireland and Australia.
Also notable? The vast majority (79%) of those who plan to follow the Games are looking forward to at least one of the mixed gender events, where women and men compete together on a team. The figure skating events, such as pairs and ice dance, have been on the Olympic program the longest. That familiarity helps make them the most popular mixed events. Newer additions like ski jumping’s mixed team and even ski mountaineering’s mixed relay, which makes its debut this Games, also see strong fanfare.
There’s a reason women’s sports is called a movement, not a moment, and that’s because this enthusiasm is not static – it’s growing. Across the surveyed countries, one in four (25%) of those who are excited about the Games say they will follow more women’s events this year than in the past. That growth is most pronounced in the U.K./Ireland, where one-third (32%) of those who are excited about the Games say they will do so.
The top reasons for doing so? According to U.S. audiences:
Audiences are not just tuning in for the sports, though. Their enthusiasm is also driven by the athletes. Specifically, the women athletes.
We gave survey respondents an open box and asked them to name who they were excited to follow at the upcoming Winter Olympics. Led by Lindsey Vonn (we’re pulling for you!), women athletes (55%) received more mentions than men athletes (45%).
Each country we surveyed had at least one woman crack the top three most-mentioned athletes. Notably, while all of the top-mentioned men athletes by country play for their respective countries (e.g., Sidney Crosby is a top-three name in Canada), the women athletes often have a more global appeal, resonating with audiences beyond their countries’ boundaries.
Olympic viewers are bought in on women’s sports, leading to an expectation across all surveyed countries that women and men athletes are treated equally.
For example, the majority of U.S. adults agree it is important for women and men to be treated equally at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. That’s good news in our book, especially because it holds true across political affiliation.
However, compared to the other surveyed countries, the U.S. trails far behind in supporting equal treatment at the Games, especially with conviction. This is a marked departure from what we saw in our research ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. When asked at that time about the importance of equal gender representation at the Summer Games, U.S. results were on par with peer countries including Australia, Canada, and the UK.
In addition, the U.S. looks a bit different from its peer countries in defining gender equality at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Canadian, British/Irish and Australian adults were most likely to say that women and men athletes receiving equal funding support from their countries represents equality. Meanwhile, U.S. adults were most likely to define equality by quantity of media coverage.
Regardless of which measure of gender equality was most commonly selected, international audiences agree that offering the same sports at the Olympics and Paralympics for women and men is key to achieving equality at the Games. Looking at you, Nordic Combined (cc: Annika Malacinski).
Consumers say that Olympic and Paralympic sponsors have a role to play in delivering equality, too. More than half (51%) of U.S. adults agree that Olympic & Paralympic sponsors should invest marketing dollars equally in women and men athletes. Despite this belief, across countries many say Olympic and Paralympic brands are not yet investing enough in women’s sports.
While the brands that made investments before the Games began may reap unique benefits, opportunities abound to tap into audiences post-Olympic and Paralympic enthusiasm.
Parity is proud to partner with 50+ athletes competing in Milano Cortina – athletes who are experts in their craft and at creating inspirational and informative content, the top two characteristics that fans say makes an Olympics/Paralympics sponsor catch their attention.
We'll be watching the Games closely as fresh faces, inspiration, and storylines emerge. If your brand is ready to partner with Parity and fast-rising stars to engage passionate audiences and deliver ROI, we're here to help.
Methodology: This poll was conducted in partnership with SurveyMonkey January 15-January 21, 2026 among an international sample of 11,683 adults ages 18+ across the U.S. (n=4,693), Canada (n=2,293), U.K. and Ireland (n=2,581) and Australia (n=2,116). 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 for the U.S. sample and plus or minus 2.0 percentage points for the other countries. Data in the U.S. have been weighted for age, race, gender, 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/IE, Australia, and Canada were weighted for age and gender using data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to reflect the demographic composition of those countries.
About Parity, a Group 1001 Company
Parity is the leading platform for professional women athlete partnerships. With a mission to close the gender income gap in sports and beyond, Parity connects brands with a diverse network of more than 1,400 women athletes from 85 sports. Through sponsorship activations, content collaborations, and strategic advisory, Parity helps brands authentically engage the most trusted voices in sports today. For more information, visit www.paritynow.co, or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.