The 2026 Milano Cortina Games Delivered Olympian Results
If you were wondering where I’ve been the last two weeks, it’s because I was mesmerized by watching “Cory-to-Korey” slowly slide rocks over ice to capture the mixed doubles silver medal in curling. While watching the majesty of the Winter Games, I thought it would be great to log a fun data entry before returning to our regularly scheduled programming.
The Olympics Makes a Comeback
It’s been two years since my last blog entry about Olympic data and this year’s games didn’t disappoint. After falling ratings the last 2 winter Olympic games, the 2026 Milano Cortina Games averaged 23.5 million viewers from February 7th to 20th. That’s a Super-G high 96% from the 2022 Beijing Winter Games making Milano Cortina the most-watched winter games since 2014’s Sochi Olympics. More than 16.7 billion (with a B) minutes of streaming coverage was watched.
No surprise, the men’s and women’s hockey finals with USA vs. Canada both finishing in overtime garnered big numbers. The men’s hockey final was the second most watched hockey game in NBC history with 20.7 million viewers watching during regulation. Another 6 million people tuned in for overtime. The women’s final clocked in with 5.3 million viewers, and another 2.4 million tuning in for a stunning overtime finish. Both Teams USA won the hockey finals 2-1. What was the most watched hockey game in NBC history? 27.6 million people tuned into the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Men’s Hockey Final watching Canada beat the United States 3-2.
People Actually Attended Events
Sure, everyone loves the pageantry of figure skating. The excitement of hockey gets eyeballs on the screen. Regardless of the sport, people showed up in person this year. 88% of tickets were sold at this year’s Olympics. That’s 1.3 million tickets. This year’s new sport, ski mountaineering, speed skating, and short track sold 95% of their occupancy. 63% of attendees were international spectators led by Germany (15%), USA (14%), and Switzerland (6%).
Team USA Showed Up and Showed Out
Stars Alyssa Liu, Mikaela Shiffrin, Cory, and Korey propelled Team USA to second place in the medal count, medaling in 33 events. That’s 28% of events coming behind Norway and tying them for first place in silver medal counts with 12. Elena Meyers Taylor is tied with Bonnie Blair as Team USA’s most decorated female winter Olympian with 6 medals. In a show of US dominance, the women’s hockey team shutout their opponents with no goals for 352 minutes 17 seconds over 5 games this year.
The flames may be extinguished for this year’s winter Olympics but don’t fret. In another two years, the magic will return in Los Angeles where all the youth of the world will gather for the 2028 Summer Games, and I’ll be your guide dear reader, analyzing the data so you won’t have to watch a GenAI version of Al Michaels.
Sources: NCAA.org, Olympics.com, The Hollywood Reporter, NBCUniversal.com
