Interesting Facts about the 'Resumption of Sports' in India


Interesting Facts about the 'Resumption of Sports' in India

2020 hasn’t been a happy year for any one yet, but for sports lovers, it has indeed been a tough time not seeing their favourite players on the field. But as the world enters the unlocking phase, various players are seen on the field entertaining their viewers and crazy fans. Their fingers were all itching to live tweet the sporting events as it happens, and it is now that they got the change to relieve their fingers.

Analyzing their noise on social media platforms, Germin8 has launched its ‘Resumption of Sports’ report through its social listening analysis of social media chatter relating to resumption of sporting events. Germin8’s researchers and analysts collected and analyzed over 15,000 twitter conversations on the resumption of sports and gaming events and the findings are really interesting. The report also reveals the dominant sentiments of the viewers and gives an insight into brand association and ways to keep up with the sporting spirit digitally.

The report reveals that 89 percent of the social media chatter in India is around football, cricket, hockey, F1 and badminton, and 92 percent of the posts come from live tweeting the sporting events as it happens. According to the report, 69 percent of the users were pro-resumption of sports and were excited to see their favourite players back on the ground, but contrary to this happiness, around 31 percent are against the resumption mostly citing the health of the players. Five states contribute almost 39 percent of the total mentions about the conversations about the resumption of sports in India, while nearly 90 percent of the conversations online were around football and cricket. Surprisingly, 75 percent of conversations were from metro cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, and Chennai where the preference was football followed by cricket. The balance 25 percent conversations were from smaller cities like Pune, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Lucknow, Meerut, Varanasi and Agra where the sports preference was cricket followed by hockey and football.

The report under the title Reaction and expectations: Viewer & Brands, mentions that viewers discussed IPL 2020 when it came to cricket and resumption of league tournaments with title-deciding matches to be played when it came to football. When it comes to watching sports, Star Sports & Disney-Hotstar win the spot followed by Color Infinity. While 92 percent of the viewer watches their favorite sports live, eight percent of the people were seen watching sports a day after they aired, with majority of these conversations that happened were about users watching the highlights or the recorded game.

Even brands are displaying messages related to social causes and messages like Black Lives Matter, maintaining social distance and staying safe. But India has an interesting twist to brand messages. Online education and gaming brands along with telecom brands are the major sponsors this year.

Dr. Ranjit Nair, CEO & Founder, Germin8, says “Over the years, one of the key reasons that sports events are so relevant to marketers is the passion and enthusiasm of their fans. While this pandemic period gave very few opportunities to marketers for offline engagement with consumers, it has made social media and digital content platforms all the more relevant. With vocal sports fans consuming sports via live streaming apps and engaging in social media, digital channels becomes all the more important for brands who want to engage with a passionate audience. While this report focuses on sharing a better understanding of how sports fans are using social media, it also highlights how brands need to incorporate innovative strategies for more digital activities and social messaging. The report has also seen a shift in the type of brands which can be potential sports sponsors in the near future.”