Global multi-sport events: content strategy for driving fan engagement on Twitter

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to understand the impact of content orientation, media type, and information richness on fan engagement in multi-sport global events.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a content analysis on Twitter posts recording over two million user impressions from the official account managed by the International Olympic Committee for India during the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. A multivariate Poisson model using the Bayesian approach was used for analyzing data.

Findings

This study found that fan engagement is likely to be higher for player-oriented content as opposed to team-oriented content. Also, the usage of photos to enhance engagement worked better than any other media type. Finally, the results revealed that the inclusion of hashtags has a positive effect on fan engagement for tweet comments but not for like count and retweet count.

Originality/value

The study highlights the differences in player versus team-oriented posts in global multi-sport competitions. The findings have significant implications for practicing sport managers by informing them about key elements that drive fans to engage in online communication.

Citation

Shabbirhusain, R.V., Annamalai, B. and Chandrasekaran, S. (2023), "Global multi-sport events: content strategy for driving fan engagement on Twitter", Sport, Business and Management, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 450-469. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-10-2022-0094