Team GB are Britain’s most popular sports outfit, so how do we get people to watch? | Sean Ingle
BBC pours money and attention on the Olympics but neglects its sports afterwards. Some creative promotion is needed
They were celebrating and swooning over Britain’s Olympic stars at the glitzy annual Team GB ball at the Savoy on Thursday. Just as they always do. And that experience will only be magnified when the Paris Olympic Games rolls around in eight months’ time. Huge numbers of medals will be won. Gushing editorials will be written. Once more, viewing figures will be enormous.
Would it surprise you to learn that a recent YouGov survey found that Team GB are the most popular sports team in the UK – ahead of England’s women footballers in second? Or that Team GB consistently ranks high on the list of the most cherished public institutions in the UK, behind the NHS and the emergency services? I suspect not.