Fandom Watches Games From Afar, Cheers While Streaming

Michael Hedges July 24, 2021 Follow on Twitter

Sports and media seemed irretrievably separated this time last year. The coronavirus factor broke links, nearly all of them. Sports writers and show hosts were apoplectic, even apocalyptic. Change became the trite word of the decade; totally appropriate, totally useless.

The Tokyo Olympic Games are underway. TV crews, radio reporters and print journalists are there, perhaps not as many as before. There are no cheering fans in the stands, editing out a favorite subject. Last minute grousing - which lasted weeks - about whether or not it would be cancelled again withered. A different opening ceremony took place, sparse with fewer athletes yet still impressive. The Olympic cauldron was lit by Japanese tennis great Naomi Osaka. It was just the moment Olympic fans needed.

TV sports broadcasters have learned over the last year how to adjust their shot-calls to no-fan venues. Olympic Broadcasting Service, owned by the International Olympic Committee, provides video from each event. There are, of course, exemptions. Broadcast rights holders control their own commentary. News teams can assemble on site but wandering around Japan in search of local color is off the agenda.

For several weeks public opinion surveys of people in Japan, widely reported, showed massive discomfort with the Tokyo Olympics going forward. That seems to have shifted in an instant. Even though organizers “discouraged” local spectators from gathering along the circuit for the Men’s Cycling Road Race, which circles Mount Fuji, “lively crowds” turned out, reported Japan Times (July 24). “Fans clad in colorful cycling Lycra put up national flags along the route.” Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz took the gold medal. “As cyclists crossed the line, some spectators cheered, despite standing requests from organisers to refrain,” noted Reuters (July 24).

Top executives with several major Japanese brands, apparently advised by their marketing departments on the public opinion polls, stayed away from the opening ceremonies. That unofficial Olympic sport - schmoozing - was cancelled. Automaker Toyota and consumer electronics maker Panasonic dispensed with Olympic-oriented advertising in Japanese media, other media markets OK. Not unexpectedly, US Olympic advertising was robust. Brewer Michelob, long visible for the Olympics, has an ad featuring multi-gold medalist Usain Bolt. US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly ran its first-ever corporate TV ad during the opening ceremonies.

US television network NBC and its sister channels are all-in for the Tokyo Olympics. They were all-in a year ago when ad bookings topped US$1 billion. Across its full range of distribution, including streaming, there will be 7,000 hours of coverage, much more than any other broadcaster. "What NBC has to do, and which they do so well, is they weave a tapestry in prime time where you get to experience the lives of these athletes and watch their performances and identify with their country or with themselves,” said former CBS Sports programming chief Jay Rosenstein to CNN (July 23). NBC planned last year to use the Tokyo Olympics to draw attention to streaming service Peacock. That plan has not changed.

The Tokyo Olympics will feature four new sports; karate, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing. Baseball and softball are returning after several years absence. As for karate, marshal arts are long Olympic mainstays and, with baseball, very popular in Japan. The appeal to younger fans is obvious. All of these additions are both visual and have very active communities on social media. Breakdancing will appear for the first time, appropriately, at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

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