Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports
More people watched gymnastics on a Tuesday afternoon than some of the biggest primetime events in sports.
The Olympic games are doing just fine. An absolutely staggering number of people tuned in to watch Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera win gold for Team USA.
Live coverage of women’s gymnastics final at Paris Olympics on Tuesday afternoon (12:15-2:30pm ET) averaged 12.7 million viewers on NBC/Peacock
Beats out:
Every game of the 2024 NBA Finals
First round of the 2024 NFL Draft pic.twitter.com/xEdqGPlNs6
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) July 31, 2024
It’s one thing to beat huge events from the NFL and NBA, but another entirely to do it in the middle of the day on a Tuesday. It’s more evidence that not only are women’s sports flourishing, but that interest in the Olympics hasn’t waned for a second when it comes to seeing the United States compete for a gold medal.
There was much anticipation whether or not Biles could be able to compete at a high level in Paris after being forced out of Tokyo games due to anxiety and suffering from “the twisties.” This made the women’s team event the first chance to see her compete at the Olympic level, and she didn’t disappoint.
It was unclear if ratings for the games were going match 2020. Manufactured outrage led to controversy following the opening ceremony in Paris, leaving a prolific hive-mind to claim they “weren’t going to watch a second of the games. This came after prominent figures misidentified the artwork “Feast of the Gods” by Jan van Bijlert, and believed organizers was mocking “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci.
“Feast of the Gods” depicts Dionysus of the Greek pantheon, and is housed in Paris’ Louvre — linking the ancient roots of the Olympic games to its current hosts. “The Last Supper” is in Milan, and has no links to the games whatsoever.
