Olympic Holdout Sport Makes Women's Future a Ratings Battle

Olympic Holdout Sport Makes Women's Future a Ratings Battle The last Olympic sport without a women's event is making a direct, high-stakes appeal to television audiences this week. Athletes and advocates for Nordic combined—a sport that combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing—are urging viewers to watch the men's competition, arguing that strong ratings are the key to finally gaining inclusion for women [77899]. Female Nordic combined athletes have campaigned for years to be added to the Olympic program. International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials have previously cited a lack of global reach and development as reasons for their exclusion. The current strategy is to use television audience numbers from the men's events as concrete proof of viewer interest and the sport's viability [77899]. The stated goal is to secure a women's Nordic combined event for the 2030 Winter Olympics. With their competitive future hinging on this data, athletes are in a unique position of encouraging fans to tune into the men's broadcasts. They hope demonstrating substantial viewership will force Olympic organizers to reconsider and end the sport's status as the final all-male holdout in the Games [77899]. One Sport Bans Women. This Week's TV Ratings Could End It.