Editor’s note: This article was written by Rachel Axon and first appeared in Sports Business Journal, the industry’s leading source of sports business news, events and data.

It didn’t take long after BMX freestyle was added to the Tokyo Olympic program in 2017 for riders to feel the five-ring effect. Backed by new funding, they got chances to travel to more competitions around the world.

Sponsors, seeing the benefits of younger athletes in new sports and disciplines, signed riders to their rosters before the Games. And even without fans at those Olympics (which were pushed to 2021) because of COVID restrictions, the new events added a youth appeal that the International Olympic Committee is hoping to benefit from in Paris and beyond.

“Once the Olympics rings welcomed us into our realm, a lot of talented people got a different audience looking at them,” said Ryan Nyquist, USA Cycling’s head coach for BMX freestyle.

The IOC could say much the same.

The addition of skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing in Tokyo — along with new disciplines of BMX freestyle and 3×3 basketball — represented a shift in the Games’ appeal to draw in younger viewers and fans, one that continues in the lead-up to next summer’s Olympics.

Paris organizers proposed those new sports, along with the addition of breaking (or break dancing), and gave them a prime location for its Games. So assured of their appeal, the IOC has incorporated all but breaking into its program rather than leaving their inclusion up to future hosts.

“We had a very clear vision about the Games being more youth, more urban, more women,” said IOC sports director Kit McConnell.

It’s not hard to see why. The IOC’s post-Tokyo survey found younger age groups said the Olympics were more appealing with the inclusion of skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing.

While the IOC did not give specific broadcast figures for those sports, it noted athletes’ popularity on digital and social platforms. Brazilian teen Rayssa Leal, a silver medalist in street skateboarding, saw her Instagram following explode from 630,000 the month before the Games to 9 million the month after. Nyjah Huston, the top-ranked American in street skateboarding, has more than 5 million Instagram followers.

McConnell said the new sports became key parts of sponsor activations as athletes celebrated and embraced being Olympians. Olympic officials expect the same appeal for breaking, which had more than 2.5 million views of content during the Youth Olympic Games in 2018.

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“When you go to those events, the people who attend them, it’s a lot of kids, a lot of teenagers, a lot of 20-somethings,” said Rocky Harris, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s chief of sport and athlete services. “There’s a different level of excitement around them.”

With its newer summer sports, the IOC’s embrace has led to an intentional approach to accept the cultures they come with.

“We always said what attracted us to having them in the Games was something we needed to protect when they were in the Games,” McConnell said, “and that’s really keeping that vibrant, strong community, that feeling around the community, that athlete-centered approach, that feeling of self-expression across these sports.”

Part of that involves the creation of the Let’s Move Street Challenge, a virtual contest for BMX freestyle, breaking and skateboarding sponsored by TOP partner Samsung. More than 3,200 participants from 83 countries submitted 30-second clips of their best move in September and October.

On Nov. 12, the IOC will select 21 winners to attend as fans at the Olympic Qualifier Series stop in Shanghai in May.

“Any time that the IOC tries something different — at high risk for them, it’s not in their DNA — I applaud it,” said Harris. “Because they’re trying. They’re trying to reach a new audience.”

The contest is similar to what the IOC used for breaking before the Youth Olympic Games in 2018, with part of qualifying done through a video contest. While it helps the IOC promote urban sports’ connection to the Olympics, it also taps into community behavior in those sports where athletes double as content creators.

“They are incredible athletes, incredible people,” McConnell said. “We’re trying to bring that together, give them a platform to showcase to the whole Olympic movement their skills, their individualism, their personalities.”

For breakers, Paris represents the one shot to showcase their sport. Los Angeles organizers did not select the sport for the 2028 Games.

While some breakers balked at being governed by the World DanceSport Federation — fearing they were being co-opted by ballroom dancers — they’ve come to embrace the platform the Olympics can provide, said Steve Graham, who founded the nonprofit Urban Dance & Educational Foundation and a Pro Breaking Tour, as well as helped fund the U.S. national team.

“A lot of these other sports that are the classic Olympic sports don’t appeal to a young demographic,” Graham said. “They’re actually expensive for the hosts to organize. You can have Olympic breaking in your living room.”

Graham speaks of which he knows — he actually has a breaking floor in his living room.

In a sign of the enthusiasm for urban sports, Paris organizers have put them in a cluster at the Place de la Concorde. Breaking, skateboarding, BMX freestyle and 3×3 basketball will be contested there.

“We know it will bring something very, very special,” McConnell said.

It will at least bring fans. Tickets for breaking, BMX freestyle and sport climbing (which is being held at its own venue) sold out the day they were offered.

With an iconic location to showcase their sports to their own and new audiences, sport leaders and athletes are eager to reap the benefits of Olympic inclusion.

“They’re definitely setting the stage,” said Nyquist.  “I’m ready to be wowed.”