Interest is lowest in the UK, with only 36 per cent of residents ‘interested’ or ‘very interested’ in the Beijing Games, compared to 52 per cent of people who classed themselves as interested in the Athens Games during a summer 2004 poll.
Spain registered the sharpest drop among the markets surveyed, with interest falling from 59 to 40 per cent, whilst Germany, France and Japan all lost more than ten percentage points of interest in the summer Olympics, according to the Sponsoring 21+ survey.
Sport + Markt executive director, Hartmut Zastrow, said: "The events in Tibet this spring as well as protests regarding the torch relay was a worldwide negative campaign for the Olympics in Beijing. The negative headlines that have appeared non-stop lately have caused unforeseen publicity for the major IOC sponsors. It remains to be seen if that kind of publicity is desirable."
Italy, China, Russia and the US registered only a negligible decline in interest – between two and six points between 2004 and 2008.
Sport + Markt, however, believes that London 2102 will be a different story, especially in the UK, where interest will boom and negative publicity will not dominate the press.
Gareth Moore, of Sport +Martkt UK said: “Considering that 64 per cent are already looking forward to the Games in London, while only 36 per cent are interested in this year’s competition shows the importance of the reputation and political situation of the host country. The sports event itself has not lost its popularity.”
