Stepping up for Olympic Sports

And not just when an Olympiad is underway

The Olympic rings above the Live Site East in front of the Velodrome. Credit: UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Let me start this with a note: yes, this is outside of what I normally cover. But, it’s also the Olympics so I get to take some time away from football and look at the world’s biggest athletics gathering.

At this point, you’ve heard it. You’ve seen it. When I worked full-time in college athletics, I was a Sports Information Director. But I didn’t fully focus on football. No, I actually spent most of my time on Olympic sports. Track and field. Cross country. Swimming and diving. Heck, even basketball and ice hockey count.

In our American culture and zeitgeist, the Big Four sports get all the attention, but it’s really a big three: football, baseball and basketball. Of course, we’re talking about the NFL, MLB and NBA here. Sure, we all love college football here, but how many of your water cooler conversations are about if the playoff committee correctly pegged your team as a future national champion and your rival as a fraud? No, it’s about how your local big team did over the weekend.

We’re starting to see the stranglehold of those big three leagues breaking, which is good. I’ve always been a strong proponent that more sports are better. The WNBA is shattering TV records. Their offseason counterpart, Unrivaled, just set the largest crowd for a professional women’s basketball regular season game in American history this week. Nebraska volleyball continues to set records, this time with the largest indoor crowd in NCAA volleyball history this September.

More sports are better. It showcases more athletes and more stories to the public. More sports, after all, mean more of the things that make sports special. More nail-biting contests. More emotions. More triumphs. And more stories.

And there’s no better time to jump on that train than during the Olympics. With opening ceremonies later today at 2:30 p.m. Eastern and re-aired at 8 p.m. Eastern, the 2026 Winter Olympics will be in full swing. But competition started on Wednesday and has already been a great watch.

If we look at the Big Four sports in America - basketball, baseball, football and ice hockey - there’s one big marquee event at each Olympics that most people will tune in to watch. For the Summer games, it’s basketball, where anything other than a gold medal is a disappointment. For the Winter games, it’s hockey. Especially now that the NHL has allowed its players to compete in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.

And those are great watches. But if you only focus on those big, marquee events, you’ll miss out on some magic.

Just look back at the magic of the 2024 Paris Olympics. We were introduced to characters like the Pommel Horse guy Stephen Nederoscik and the Turkish Assassin in addition to seeing the utter dominance of Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky displayed yet again on the world stage.

This year will be no different. And while, yes, the Jamaican Bobsled Team will be back with three sleds, there are other stories to watch. There’s American figure skater Ilia Malinin, better known as the “Quad God,” seeking to put his stamp on the games. There’s the return of Lindsey Vonn to the slopes. There’s the Filipino curlers.

And those are just the storylines I knew off the top of my head. No doubt, we will be introduced to a plethora of other characters, teams and stories that encapsulate sports.

So, as the Olympics kick off in full, I recommend you turn on something you don’t know. Find a random athlete - maybe not even from your country - to follow and support. Open your mind to some new sports. Don’t know the rules? That doesn’t matter. Just follow along. The announcing team will clue you in on the details you need to know. After all, sports are fun, right? So kick back and have some fun.

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But, this wouldn’t be an SID Sports newsletter if I didn’t get into some business or media topics, so here we are. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

36 percent of the U.S. athletes you’ll see compete in Milan Cortina are NCAA-affilated athletes. Of those athletes, 27 conferences and over 50 schools have an alumnus or current athlete heading to the Olympic games.

We’ve seen and talked about Olympic sports cuts post-House settlement here often. In fact, I’d venture that collegiate Olympic sports were never on such precipitous footing as they are now.

Something has to give. And we can talk until we’re blue in the face about whether and equal or equitable revenue sharing split is better or moral, or if Title IX needs to step in on these revenue sharing deals or NIL deals, but that is massive institution-level things that are being sorted out by the federal government because the NCAA and its member schools are waiting for the government to govern them instead of doing it themselves.

Instead, let’s take some of the power into our own hands. Start supporting an Olympic sport. If you’re someone that doesn’t like the current state of college athletics with dollar signs being posted everywhere, Olympic sports are your spot. These athletes are unlikely to receive NIL deals, let alone meaningful revenue sharing. Sure, that may be different in the case of ice hockey or basketball, but how much money do you think the cross country teams or volleyball teams or rowing teams or lacrosse teams are getting?

They need attention. They need support. Monetary support, sure, but more often, they need people to just care. Follow along with a season and you’ll find some athletes that truly, deeply care about their craft. Most times, these schools at lower levels are offering partial scholarships and athletes are excelling in school.

But, more importantly, these athletes are interesting. They have great stories and are great people.

So, for the first time ever, I’m giving some homework to you, my friends reading along. Watch the Olympics. Find a sport that you have never seen before and just take it in. Find something that’s not hockey or snowboarding or the “popular” sports and just let it play. Then, find an Olympic sports team at your alma mater or favorite college and follow along with their season.

I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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