What is the broadcast impact of the Games?
No specific focus
Official Highlights
MILAN - Comments from
IOC Spokesperson Mark ADAMS (GBR)
Games Operations Communications Director Luca CASASSA (ITA) at a press conference at the Main Press Centre on Monday.
Mark ADAMS - IOC Spokesperson
On a video from Cortina d'Ampezzo showing an employee at an official Olympic store confronting shoppers who had an Israeli flag:
"Honestly, we don't comment about security. As far as I can, I can assure people from every faith and every country they are welcome here."
On broadcast figures and digital engagement at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games:
"From Germany, (broadcaster) ARD reports the top 25 most-watched broadcasts among 14-to-49-year-olds, in that young age group, was the Olympic Winter Games. And in the Netherlands, their afternoon coverage on the Saturday had an 83% percent share, so basically everyone watching TV was watching the Olympic Games (on Saturday).
"We are up to about 1.3 million tickets sold (at the halfway point), which is pretty damn good. Olympic social media handles have now generated more than eight billion engagements. And a very nice figure from Italy: by the end of the first weekend, almost 31 million Italians had watched the Games, so almost half the population."
On the popularity of curling at the Games:
"What is always interesting about curling is that it is one of those slow burners. We have had it at every Games around the world, and its popularity always explodes during the Games. It is a great thing for any sport to get that kind of exposure, particularly in countries that don't generally have them. People who are from countries who watch winter sports don't always realise some people don't watch these sports all the time. They may view them for the first time here and get addicted to them."
On accusations of cheating in curling, and whether that has in fact added to the sport's popularity:
"I am not here to have an opinion on whether such a controversy is good for the sport or not. Our interest is that all the sports take part with the sports attitude we would like. The IOC doesn't have any specific comment on this issue because that's for the federation (World Curling). It won't surprise you to know we do follow, minutely, all the developments that happen."
Luca CASASSA - Games Operations Communications Director
On security at the Games in light of an Olympic store employee in Cortina d'Ampezzo confronting fans who had an Israeli flag:
"We have been informed about what happened at the official store. It happened four days ago. It was not an employee of Milano Cortina 2026, but an employee of one of our subcontractors. We intervened immediately. Our rules apply to both direct employees and subcontractors. We try to raise awareness of the rules. This topic is not about the rules, but personal behaviour. We want everyone to refrain from making comments that infringe the rules."
On ticket sales on Saturday:
"Yesterday, we sold 108,000 tickets.
"It was a memorable day for Italy. We set a new (Winter Games) record with 22 medals. The victories of Federica BRIGNONE (ITA) and Lisa VITTOZZI (ITA) brought Italy's gold medal tally to eight (as of Monday morning)."
On the ticket and merchandise sales at the Games:
"We are extremely happy with the sold tickets. We have talked about it during the last few days. Spectators have responded extremely well to the Games. We can see that in the number of sold tickets, which keeps increasing day by day. It is a linear increase, and we believe it will continue during the second week.
"There will be a detailed report (on merchandise sales) at the end of the Games. Sales have been very successful. Consumers seem to be very interested in specific products, for instance, the mascots. This has found its way into some newspaper articles. The mascots have sold really well, and beyond expectations."
OIS bj/ar/kc
