Bored after the Superbowl? Why the Olympics are the best time to get into a new sport.

Like millions of Americans, I am a huge fan of the NFL. I was raised as a Seahawks fan, and my family has always been invested in professional football. A year ago, after an underwhelming (albeit satisfying) Superbowl between the Eagles and the Chiefs, I was bored. I had resigned myself to six months of no football and subsequently found myself wishing for another sport to cure my fix.

Enter the Four Nations Face-off.

One blustery February day, I was flipping channels when I settled on a hockey game between the U.S. and Canada. I was hooked. Three fights in the first nine seconds? I had never watched a sport as faced-paced and physical as hockey. As a kid, I remember flipping idly to NBC one night and watching the tail end of a Pittsburgh Penguins game where a fight broke out, but I never paid much attention to hockey, and soon football took over my sports interest. Why now, had hockey captivated me? True, my FYP was flooded with footage of the fight days, and even a week afterward, and I resolved to see the rest of the tournament through, but the sheer unfamiliarity of the sport provided a fresh interest for me to follow. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect. News outlets were breaking down the rules of hockey, following star players, and the trade deadline for the NHL was just under a month away. I had walked into a snowstorm of “Hockey for Dummies” articles, and “NHL 101” pages.

National (and international!) media both provide a wonderful set of training wheels for fans getting into new sports. This flurry of articles typically reach their peak right before and during the Olympics, because reporters and sports executives know that it’s an ideal time to expose new fans to their sports. Want someone to explain icing? NHL.com has you covered. What about the way that judges score figure skating competitions? Just type it into Google. Do you want to find a favorite player? Look no further than NBC. The internet is at your fingertips, alongside television shows, podcasts, and even movies. One standout of Olympic media is the player profiles. Pick a sport, pick an athlete, and grab some popcorn to watch the internet explain anything and everything to you.

Not only do the Olympics provide the best media for continuing coverage and context, but they also provide the best that the sport has to offer. Best-on best competition is at its peak at the Olympics. Take speed skating, for example. American Brittany Bowe is phenomenal at her sport, but the competition from other countries (and even other Americans) is fierce, which almost guarantees that the viewer will get the best entertainment possible. After all, what better way to learn is there?

If you’re wondering about scheduling, plenty of major leagues will be done, or on break by the time of the Olympics. As I’ve never gotten super into basketball (maybe I’ll check it out in 2028?), the NBA and WNBA seasons don’t interest me very much, and thus, the NHL and

PWHL have given me a new sport to watch in the winter and spring. Their championships are right around June, coinciding with the dawn of summer, and when baseball begins to take over in terms of popularity. The continuation of sports in the middle of exam season is something to look forward to, and to relieve a bit of stress, even just for a couple of hours.

After the Superbowl in a couple of weeks, football fans will inevitably be left with a whole six months to fill. If you take a page out of my book, I’d recommend finding your new sport at the Olympics, or staying tuned for All-Star breaks across leagues to explore a new interest. I cannot understate how easy, exciting, and helpful I found social media and the internet to be while learning about hockey, and I’m thrilled to extend my sports season from February all the way to June. Whatever event you choose, I hope you learn a bit more about something new, find something that interests you, and have fun on a new journey. Happy watching!