Why Is There No Interest In The Olympics?
The Tokyo Olympics are here... but no one seems to care…
Right about now, the summer games would typically be the most hyped event on the planet.
We are excited about everything opening back up this summer but we are not excited about the Tokyo Olympics… Why? The Olympics are all MASS right now and no VELOCITY… which means no excitement.
WHAT’S UP ⬆️: The Olympics (sort of…). There is momentum for the Tokyo Games… but it is surprisingly flat compared to what it should be. It is an all MASS, no VELOCITY topic right now.
MFactor is a proprietary tool that measures cultural momentum through topic modeling and sentiment analysis.
Why? It could be intentional… Do Americans feel guilty about all the uncertainty right now?
There is still widespread concern in Japan about whether or not it’s wise to host a global event that will bring in an influx of travelers (even with the travel restrictions compared to years past). Are media outlets in the U.S. reluctant to express excitement from afar for fear of appearing tone deaf?
What will it take for Momentum for the Tokyo Olympics to surge? Velocity.
What’s been driving velocity for the Olympics this year has been sticky athlete stories. The stories about young & emerging athletes like Sha'Carri Richardson and Katie Ledecky have us watching and waiting to see how their fates unfold.
Sha’Carri’s is the most prominent one breaking through right now:
At just 21 years old, Richardson had secured her spot on Team USA— making national headlines by clocking in at just 10.86 seconds and shattering records for the 100M dash.
Now we stay tuned to see how her story unfolds… will she be able to compete in the relay after the 1 month suspension? Will fans pressure the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to consider removing THC from the list of restricted substances?
While we may not know what will be coming next for Sha’Carri, we do know that for the Tokyo Olympics to maintain momentum this year, it will have to highlight athlete stories.