While Mumbai Indians had a disappointing IPL 2022 campaign on the field – finishing at the last position in the points table for the first time – the performance of their social media and fan engagement teams broke records.
The five-time champions had the highest amount of YouTube engagements across the globe, bettering even colossal football clubs FC Barcelona, Liverpool FC, and Real Madrid. This report has been published recently by the Spanish research agency Deportes & Finanzas.
According to the report, Mumbai Indians was ranked as the most popular sports club and brand on YouTube for March 2022 with 40.7M engagements, surpassing even those by the likes of Liverpool FC and Real Madrid, the two sides who will meet in the UEFA Champions League final on Sunday. The Ambani-owned franchise bettered their own record of March by over 50% in April, clocking 66.1M engagements, clear of second-placed Liverpool by 16M.
Because of the introduction of YT Shorts, Mumbai and all other franchises have been enjoying a great amount of interaction with fans. But MI have gone even further than just uploading videos of their own squad members; in several short and long-format videos, they had their loyal fans cheering and showing support to the team even when they weren’t doing well on the field.
Video themes like MI Daily (a short unfiltered wrap of MI’s daily activities in the camp) as well as partnerships with renowned content creators helped them gain heavy traction on YouTube.
Also, over the past few years, the status and following of the MI Live TV have surged, and the team’s fan-led digital show is available across popular social media platforms where it’s the fans who talk about the game, share their views in pre, mid and post-match shows.
Even in the offseason, the MI social media accounts are active and regularly give updates on their players. As a global brand, Mumbai Indians has over 30 million fans and growing.
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