With the Winter Olympics concluding, we created an index to see which areas of the US & Canada were the most engaged with the games.
The 2026 Winter Olympics had it all. There were cheating accusations in the curling. Jack Hughes lost a tooth before securing Team USA’s first men’s ice hockey Olympic Gold since 1980, against rivals Canada. Lindsey Vonn suffered heartbreak as she crashed out in her return, meanwhile figure skater Alysa Liu became a star on the biggest stage.
These were just some of the moments that captured the attention of sports fans globally. But which areas of North America were the most engaged in the games?
To find out, online sportsbook Betway analysed social media mentions/articles and positive online sentiment throughout the tournament, as well as search volume over the last 12 months.
According to the data, North Dakota was ranked as the most Winter Olympics obsessed state with a score of 97.4. When looking at online posts and articles which included Winter Olympic related terms during the month of February, no state had a higher positive sentiment than North Dakota’s 65%.
When looking at search volume over the last year to gauge general recent interest in the games, North Dakota’s 458 Winter Olympics related searches per 100,000 ranked fifth highest.
Wyoming, Nevada, Minnesota and Massachusetts all trailed North Dakota but still made the top five states which loved the games in Milan and Cortina.
The top 10 states which loved the 2026 Winter Olympics can be seen below.
Rank | State | Online Mentions per 100,000 | Positive Sentiment | Search Volume per 100,000 | Score |
1 | North Dakota | 270 | 65% | 458 | 97.4 |
2 | Wyoming | 551 | 52% | 538 | 96.4 |
3 | Nevada | 802 | 54% | 222 | 91.8 |
4 | Minnesota | 622 | 57% | 298 | 91.6 |
5 | Massachusetts | 645 | 55% | 286 | 87.5 |
6 | New York | 749 | 53% | 222 | 85.1 |
7 | Colorado | 650 | 52% | 316 | 83.3 |
8 | Vermont | 343 | 47% | 675 | 79.9 |
9 | Utah | 372 | 54% | 461 | 79.2 |
10 | Connecticut | 467 | 57% | 265 | 75.6 |
On the other hand, with a score of just 20.2, New Mexico was found to be the state least interested in the games. “The Land of Enchantment” had the third least number of online mentions of the games per 100,000 (160). Only three states had a lower positive online sentiment towards the Winter Olympics than New Mexico’s 47%.
Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas and Alabama all didn’t seem to be entertained by the action either as their scores ranked them in the bottom five.
The Canadian provinces which loved Milano-Cortina 2026
When looking north of the border, there was a surprise when it came to provinces which enjoyed the games.
Prince Edward Island ranked as the biggest enjoyers of the Winter Olympics with a near-perfect score of 99.3. The province only had 400 posts/articles per 100,000 about the event but their positive online sentiment of 58% was second only to Nova Scotia. “The Garden of the Gulf” also had by far the highest Winter Olympic search volume per 100,000 (1,652).
The only other Canadian province to score over 90 was Nova Scotia. Ontario and Saskatchewan then rounded off the top four.
The table below shows how much each province enjoyed the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Rank | Province | Online Mentions per 100,000 | Positive Sentiment | Search Volume per 100,000 | Score |
1 | Prince Edward Island | 400 | 58% | 1,652 | 99.3 |
2 | Nova Scotia | 640 | 60% | 790 | 93.1 |
3 | Ontario | 1,355 | 53% | 472 | 85.8 |
4 | Saskatchewan | 495 | 57% | 694 | 82.8 |
5 | British Columbia | 869 | 54% | 668 | 78.2 |
6 | Alberta | 954 | 53% | 663 | 70.4 |
7 | Newfoundland and Labrador | 697 | 54% | 754 | 61.0 |
8 | Manitoba | 558 | 55% | 656 | 54.1 |
9 | New Brunswick | 363 | 52% | 663 | 37.4 |
10 | Quebec | 265 | 52% | 184 | 0.0 |
Meanwhile, the data suggested that Quebec residents had little interest in the event compared to the rest of Canada. Quebec scored zero overall as they finished bottom of all three metrics.
Milan and Cortina served up some moments which clearly captured the attention of both US and Canadian residents. And with the next games being in the summer of 2028 in Los Angeles, the Olympic buzz in North America is unlikely to die down soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to see more content like this, head over to our blog page.
Methodology
Using social listening and keyword tools, we analysed each US state and Canadian province on the following metrics:
Number of articles/social media posts mentioning Winter Olympics and related terms throughout the month of February (per 100,000 residents.)
The percentage of Winter Olympics related posts throughout February which include a positive sentiment.
Search volume for the Winter Olympics in the last 12 months (per 100,000 residents.)
Each location was then given a normalised score out of 100 based on how they performed in the metrics above. The higher the score, the more interest in the games!
Data correct as of 24th February 2026.
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