The report correlates a series of European gains with the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which takes place from February 6 to 22, 2026. During this period, the Czech Republic saw a +18.9% movement, while Poland recorded a +16.1% movement.
Rather than pointing to a specific viral event, the digest focuses on coverage density. Winter sports were on TV all week, and home teams kept showing up in schedules and highlights. With regard to the Czech audience, the digest notes three games featuring men’s ice hockey in group-stage competition from Feb 12-15, as well as four medals won during this time. This level of recurring coverage was presumably enough to keep general sports browsing elevated.
In terms of Poland, there were two headline-grabbing moments within this time period, which presumably helped sustain attention:
- Ski jumper Kacper Tomasiak won bronze on Feb 14;
- Speed skater Vladimir Semirunniy won silver in the men’s 10,000m on Feb 13.
Cricket-Driven Markets Posted the Biggest Jumps
The strongest moves in the entire digest were outside of Europe. Sri Lanka led all markets with a +73% performance, followed closely by India with a +42.5% performance. The report attributes this to the live ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match cycle.
For India, the key event was the Feb 15 India-Pakistan match, which generated extensive coverage beyond the two home audiences. In Sri Lanka, the digest cites the victory over Oman on Feb 12 as one of the events that garnered national sports interest in the middle of the week.
What to Watch Next on the Calendar
The digest’s watchlist strategy is simple: the matchdays create peaks, and the next set of matches can sustain the interest while the tournament is live. The next games to watch include:
- India vs Netherlands (Feb 18);
- Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe (Feb 19).
How to Read the Index as a Commercial Signal
Blask defines the index as an AI-processed measure of search intent, updated hourly and filtered for noise. It’s probably best treated as “attention momentum” rather than a direct reflection of deposits or revenue.
This framing helps make sense of the drop in some sports markets. For instance, the digest shows Ireland down 24.1% despite the Six Nations Championship, and Austria down 17.6% despite good medal output.
Expert Takeaway
Sports weeks can indeed expand the top of the funnel, but the window is short. So, the best approach for operators and affiliates is to think of it in terms of scheduling. That means building localized landing pages and paid search coverage in advance of peak broadcast times, aligning CRM efforts to national team “moment” days, and normalizing in the week following the largest fixtures.
If executed well, event cycles can become a measurable acquisition channel. Otherwise, it might be a waste of spending.
