This year’s ranking includes all IFs from both the Winter and Summer Olympic programmes, as well as all recognized non-Olympic IFs.
Notable key findings this year include:
With Covid-19 continuing to hinder sports events, IFs have turned up their social media presence, pushing virtual engagement on all levels such as athlete take-overs, interactive fan outreach and virtual events. These efforts have significantly boosted the digital transformation efforts of Ifs, with an average growth increase of 36% on Instagram and 33% on Facebook.
Some IFs showed triple-digit growth numbers, including World Athletics which increased its followers by 4 million (total 8,135,451) – a 101% increase in the last year.
With the International Cricket Council (ICC) keeping its crown as the most followed IF, growing an additional 35% this year and increasing its total followers to 79,696,575, FIFA (41,082,790) and FIBA (13,909,368) held steady in second and third place.
Interestingly, the two other non-Olympic sports in the overall top 10 include Teqball (International Teqball Federation, in seventh position, 6,288,971) and Cheerleading (International Cheer Union, 10th, 3,358,462), have made use of other virtual opportunities to engage with their members.
Tanya Heimlich-Ng Yuen, BCW Sports senior director, says: “While sport and events continue to be negatively impacted by Covid-19, it is clear that a strong social media presence provides IFs with new opportunities for growth. When done right, IFs are able to not only expand their brand awareness but also cultivate new partnerships and rapidly increase their fan bases. With some Ifs growing their base by more than 100% and gaining millions of new followers in a year, it shows that most IFs have not even begun to tap into their online potential.
Download the 2021 International Sports Federations Social Media Ranking.