Juegos Panamericanos Santiago 2023

We're in the midst of that brief period where all six major North American sports are in action.  October means the MLB postseason, and the NFL's in the heart of its season.  The NHL just got underway and the NBA regular season begins next week.  MLS is about to wrap up, and we just saw the Las Vegas Aces knock off the New York Liberty in an exciting clinching Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.

That can only happen in October, a sure sign that it's Fall.  Another sure sign that it's Fall is that summer sports have basically wound down.  Sure, some go into the Fall or even year-round, but, for the most part, Olympic hopefuls have finished their season and are enjoying a few weeks off before they kick off an all-important Olympic season that they hope will culminate in a trip to Paris.

It sounds weird, then, to be talking about a Summer sports event only getting started now, let alone a multi-sports event.  Yet that's exactly what we have.  The 2023 Pan American Games have begun in Santiago, Chile.  Nearly 7,000 athletes from 41 countries and territories will be competing from now until Nov. 5, with Olympic berths on the line in a handful of sports.

For the most part, the Pan Am Games aren't a high priority in the United States.  In the sports with direct Olympic qualifying opportunities, the U.S. sent the full National "A" team that we'll also be seeing in Paris.  In others, such as basketball and volleyball, the U.S. turned down its bid and won't even be competing.  And in sports like track & field and swimming, the World Championships were the priority, so the U.S. team in Santiago features either athletes who didn't compete at Worlds or younger athletes who are using Pan Ams to gain international experience.

So, I can understand where the Pan Am Games sometimes get lost in the shuffle in the American consciousness.  They're a second-tier event, held with nothing close to the same reverence as the Olympics.  That would likely be the case even if the U.S. was sending all of its top-flight athletes and the Pan Am Games were taking place during the Summer.  It's especially true in the Fall with a team that isn't full of household names.

But for many of the other countries in the Americas, the Pan Am Games are a HUGE deal!  A lot of those athletes may not be good enough to qualify for the Olympics or World Championships, so the Pan Am Games aren't just a chance to represent their nation, it's the pinnacle of competition for them.  Likewise, it's the chance for their nations to shine.  While larger nations like the United States, Canada and Brazil (nations that figure to win a bunch of Olympic medals next year) will dominate the medal standings, the smaller countries in the Americas will also bring home plenty of medals.  That won't be the case next year, when those nations will celebrate any medal they win, knowing there won't be many.

There are also some sports that are part of the Pan Am Games, but not the Olympics.  So, for athletes who compete in roller sports or basque pelota or racquetball or bowling or wakeboarding/water skiing, this really is the pinnacle of international competition.  Sure, those sports have World Championships, but, unless they get Olympic recognition, this is the only time they get the chance to mingle and be teammates with athletes from other sports at an event of this magnitude.

All of that is enough for the Pan Am Games to still be worthy of our attention, which, I admit, can be difficult.  Especially since the timing of the Pan Am Games is entirely dependent on where they're being held.  But, that's what happens when North and South America are in different hemispheres and have completely opposite seasons!  Which is how we get a mid-October start for the first Pan Am Games in Chile.

I'm not sure if this is a sign of how little people care or a very forward-thinking move (maybe both), but there isn't any TV coverage of the Pan Am Games this year.  Instead, there's a dedicated Pan Am Sports streaming channel that will have live coverage of every event, with both English and Spanish commentary.  (Although, I went to watch the Opening Ceremony earlier, and it doesn't look like they have an on demand feature, which is too bad.)

While I think the streaming thing is a great idea in theory, my worry is that instead of increasing the Pan Am Games' exposure, it'll end up limiting it.  People who want to watch will seek it out, but, even though it's free, they're unlikely to draw many casual viewers.  And I have a feeling some people who want to watch won't know about the streaming channel and won't care enough to look for it, so they just won't watch at all.  So, I'm very curious to see how it actually works out.  Especially since, to my knowledge, this is the first time a major international multi-sport event is going strictly streaming.

Don't be surprised if it ends up like MLS, though.  This was the first year of the MLS deal with Apple.  It was great for the league financially, but exactly what I thought might happen did.  It didn't move the needle anywhere near the way Apple and MLS thought, and it actually might've reduced the public's awareness of MLS (which should've been capitalizing on Messi Mania) because so many people didn't have access to the games.

Although, the website is free and it isn't geoblocked.  Which means anyone, anywhere in the world can watch the Pan Am Games.  I'm not saying vast amounts of people in Europe or Asia will have any interest in watching the Americas' regional Olympics, but I'm sure there'll probably be some.  And any exposure outside of just the Americas is certainly a good thing.  In fact, I'll be curious to see what countries have the most hits and where those countries are located.

With an event like the Pan Am Games, it's worth trying something new.  And it's worth the risk.  If the streaming-only thing doesn't work, they've got four years to think about whether they want to do it again.  (And who knows what the sports media landscape will look like in 2027 anyway?)  Or maybe they decide to go the more typical route of having both linear TV and streaming broadcasts.  They could even do different things depending on what each country wants.

So, even though I bet this is the first a lot of you are even finding out that this year's Pan Am Games have started, I'm excited for them.  Maybe it's because my experience eight years ago in Toronto gave me a different appreciation for them and the passion they bring out in our friends from elsewhere in the Americas, but I'm psyched for the Pan Am Games to get underway!  Even if it's out of season to be watching ummer sports in late October/early November, I still will be.