IPL 2024 reports 35% spike in social media engagement compared to previous edition

Delhi: Interactive Avenues, a full-service digital agency and the digital arm of IPG Mediabrands India, has launched "IPL 2024: Unveiling The Fan Pulse", an exhaustive social media listening report with insights into the digital conversation landscape surrounding the IPL 2024 season. 

Shantanu Sirohi, COO, Interactive Avenues, said, “This comprehensive report offers valuable insights into the social media dynamics of IPL 2024, providing a deeper understanding of the trends, player influence, and brand engagement within the tournament. We leveraged powerful social media listening tools to gather and analyze extensive data from platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and popular cricket forums. Additionally, we used advanced analytics to study the social media landscape surrounding IPL 2024, including player controversies, performances, public sentiments, and emerging talent.”

Here are some key findings and highlights from the report:

Player Popularity:

1. Virat Kohli emerged as the most popular player, with 7.5 million social media mentions across IPL 2024. Despite Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB’s) defeat by Rajasthan Royals in the qualifiers, it was still the most mentioned team of the tournament.

Liked and Disliked Moments:

1. Dhoni’s entry and cameo performances received the highest number of positive social media mentions.

2. Hardik Pandya received the most negative reactions, becoming the only captain in IPL history to be booed by the crowd at every match venue.

Emerging Players in the Spotlight:

1. Abhishek Sharma topped the charts among emerging players with 437K mentions, followed by Will Jacks (317K mentions) and Matheesha Pathirana (290K mentions).

Social Media Buzz and Team Mentions:

1. The tournament and franchises sparked 46 million mentions on social media.

2. This year’s tournament witnessed a 10% increase in overall mentions and net sentiment, along with 35% increase in engagement on social media compared to IPL 2023.

3. RCB topped the roster with 10.7 million mentions, emerging as the most talked-about team. Mentions spiked when RCB qualified for the playoffs after beating CSK in their final group-stage game (1.4M mentions for RCB).

4. RCB vs CSK qualifier match was the fans’ most favourite rivalry throughout the tournament which generated higher buzz than the semi-finals and finals. 

Top Controversies:

5. Umpiring decisions received huge criticism in IPL 2024:

1. Virat Kohli's controversial no-ball decision spiked conversations with 54K mentions and 617K engagement.

2. Sanju Samson's controversial dismissal garnered 32K mentions and 637K engagement.

3. Controversial decision surrounding Dinesh Karthik's LBW got 19K mentions and 233K engagement.

6. Media spat between Virat Kohli and commentator Sunil Gavaskar (46K mentions and 541K engagement)

7. Public spat between KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka (18K mentions and 91K engagement).

Top Funny Moments

8. MS Dhoni's bottle-throwing act from the dressing room garnered humorous engagement among fans (78K mentions and 355K engagement).

9. Dinesh Karthik’s dressing room speech thanking MS Dhoni for hitting the longest 6, which led RCB to play with a new ball, tipping the match in their favour (24K mentions and 1million engagement).

Impact of Partnerships and CSR Initiatives:

1. IPL-based partnerships played a significant role in driving brand perception on social media.

2. Gaming was the leading category with 110K mentions, followed by CPG and Electronics with 51K and 43K mentions respectively.

3. Puma's 'Go Green' campaign in collaboration with RCB garnered more than 14K mentions and 278K engagement.

4. Rajasthan Royals women empowerment initiative #PinkPromise resulted in 13.8K mentions and more than 274K engagement.

Top Influencers:

Johns and Mufaddal Vohra each contributed 1.7K posts, resulting in an engagement of 20 million and 16 million, respectively.