Netflix cancelled the Olympo series late December last year. The notification was quiet and with no public explanation from the giant.
So, why was the show not renewed for a second season?
Well, below we cover exactly why Olympo has been cancelled by Netflix.
A quick recap of Olympo
Olympo premiered globally on June 20, 2025, and consisted of eight episodes in its first season.
The series was created by Jan Matheu, Laia Foguet, and Ibai Abad and built around a fictional High Performance Centre (Pirineos HPC) where Spain’s most promising young athletes train and compete, both against rivals and, often, against their own limits.
Reasons why Olympo has been cancelled by Netflix
Below are the things that led to Netflix’s decision:
1. Underwhelming performance
Olympo initially appeared in Top 10 lists globally and logged millions of viewing hours during its early weeks. However, according to reporting, these figures didn’t maintain momentum beyond the initial burst of curiosity that often accompanies any new Netflix title.
While its presence in the Top 10 across 78 countries and over 36 days in Spain’s daily charts was notable, that performance, in Netflix’s calculus, likely plateaued too quickly to justify renewal.
2. Mixed critical reception
The show has a 75% positive audience score. On the flip side, its critic score is much lower, hovering around 43% on review aggregators.
If you are keen, you may have noticed that the tension between athletes’ personal lives and competitive pressures is not on this show in compelling drama. Movie critics say moments in the show feel like surface-level soap opera more than a thoughtful exploration of elite sport.
This perception matters because Netflix doesn’t just want shows people click. The streaming giant wants shows that sustain critical and algorithmic recommendations.
3. Limited franchise potential
Unlike many long-running series with season-arc designs that build toward deeper mysteries or high stakes, Olympo’s eight episodes have a mix of sports challenges, interpersonal drama, and thematic signals. These do not clearly unify into a compelling long-term arc.
You likely anticipated a show on the same level as Élite. This is a Spanish teen drama that thrived on intertwined mysteries and high tension. Olympo, by contrast, lacks a strong narrative hook that would naturally extend into further seasons.
Because of this, Netflix has probably termed the series’s story structure as insufficiently serial. As such, it would not naturally lead to viewer demand for year-over-year returns.
4. Competition with others
Olympo has stiff competition from other Spanish shows.
This streaming service provider definitely thought this series would achieve breakout viewership patterns similar to previous Spanish hits. But the series’ metrics fall short of those benchmarks.
5. Internal cost didn’t justify renewing a mid-tier performer
Budgetary factors, though not always made public, are a constant consideration in renewals. International productions involve multiple sports scenes, location shoots, and technical expertise. They carry higher relative costs even if they don’t have blockbuster effects.
Olympo’s early buzz and visibility didn’t translate into sustainable engagement. This informed Netflix’s internal cost/benefit assessments.
A show that commands production costs without delivering proportionate viewing returns over time becomes a candidate for cancellation since there is not much return on investment.