Axios

The cost of hosting the Olympics has skyrocketed in recent decades, outpacing revenues from visitors and saddling cities with heavy maintenance burdens. As a result, residents of potential host cities have increasingly resisted their government's bids to host the games.

Why it matters: Authoritarian countries eager for global approbation can ignore local opposition, making hosting the Olympics increasingly the terrain of autocratic regimes.

Super Bowl LV was watched by a total of 96.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings provided by CBS Sports.

Details: The broadcast broke records as the most live-streamed NFL game ever, averaging 5.7 million viewers per minute — up 65% from last year's big game.

With athlete activism on the rise, and protest guidelines in flux, Olympians could play a larger role than ever in shaping the narrative around the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics — which have come under heavy scrutiny due to China's human rights abuses.

The state of play: The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced in December that it would no longer prohibit athletes from "peacefully and respectfully demonstrating in support of racial and social justice for all human beings."

Brady and Gronkowski got Tampa Bay the Lombardi Trophy, but the city fumbled its pandemic-era Super Bowl win with postgame mass celebrations.

Why it matters: Anthony Fauci and other top health officials pleaded the city to stay home — or, at the very least, be smart about small gatherings — but that didn't stop throngs of maskless fans from swarming downtown Tampa and SoHo.

Global fears of China's authoritarian rise are overshadowing the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and sparking calls for a boycott.

Why it matters: By openly flouting human rights norms while claiming leadership of the international system, China is cracking the foundation upon which global traditions such as the Olympics are based.

Americans heeding advice to skip their usual Super Bowl celebrations triggered the latest COVID ripple effect, with the amount of beer poured from taps down 46% nationally from last year — and nearly 70% in a Tom Brady-less Boston.

The big picture: Data from the Beer Board, a New York tech company that helps optimize beer flows in some 1,300 locations across the country, provided insight into which cities had the most liberal crowd policies and free-flowing taps.

Many of America's COVID-19 spikes came on the heels of holidays, when friends and families gathered to celebrate. Could Super Bowl LV lead to another spike?

• Parties: 25% of Americans said they planned to attend Super Bowl parties with people from outside their households, per a Seton Hall Sports Poll.
• Celebrations: Thousands of fans celebrated throughout the night in the streets of Tampa, many of them without masks.

The Buccaneers crushed the Chiefs, 31-9, winning Super Bowl LV in front of 25,000 socially distanced fans at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.

Why it matters: With the win, Tom Brady moves to 7-3 in the Super Bowl, further cementing his legacy as the G.O.A.T. at the expense of Patrick Mahomes — the player with perhaps the best shot at one day challenging Brady's throne.

The first Super Bowl with coronavirus precautions in place ended in victory for Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida Sunday night.

The big picture: The game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa took place with more cardboard cutouts (30,000) than fans (25,000). The NFL provided those present with personal protective equipment including masks and hand sanitizer before the game.

Tom Brady and the Buccaneers dominated the Chiefs, 31-9, winning Super Bowl LV in front of 25,000 masked and socially distanced fans in Tampa. 

The big picture: With the win, 43-year-old Brady moves to an unprecedented 7-3 in the Super Bowl, further cementing his legacy as the greatest of all time at the expense of Patrick Mahomes — the player with perhaps the best shot at challenging for that throne.

• Mahomes, visibly battling a foot injury, had an uncharacteristically bad day under center as the Chiefs' depleted offensive line had no answers for the Bucs’ fearsome pass rush.

CBS All Access, the streaming service from ViacomCBS, did not work for some customers Sunday night as they tried to access the service just ahead of the Super Bowl LV kickoff.

Why it matters: The incident represents a weak spot for streaming services vying to win rights to air big games from major sports leagues. Streaming TV technology still isn't as reliable as traditional broadcast or cable during highly-trafficked events.