The 2017 Olympic Sports Social Media Ranking explores the presence of all Olympic Sports
Federations on social networks. With a combined total fan count of almost 44 million people on
Facebook alone, this year’s ranking shows which sports are making the most of their online presence.
LAUSANNE, 20 December 2017 – Burson-Marsteller, a leading global strategic communications and
public relations firm, and its specialised sport consultancy, TSE Consulting, have published their
second annual "Olympic Sports Social Media Ranking," which analyses the social media footprint of
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its 40 International Sports Federations.
This year’s ranking uncovers how these international sports governing bodies use their social media
channels, how effective such channels are and what lessons can be learned from each other. In
particular, this year’s edition shows that once again the IOC is in a league of its own and tops the
rankings on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. However, FIFA, the International Football
Association, is ahead of the Olympic body on Twitter. Notably, the IOC’s Olympics page is the most
liked page of any international organisation on Facebook with 19 million likes, 2.5 times as many page
likes as UNICEF.
Furthermore, the ranking shows that the Olympic sports of football, basketball, rugby and cycling have
the biggest fan pool, whereas sports such as judo, triathlon and table tennis have a smaller fan base
but still enjoy a strong social media presence. As was the case last year, ranking categories include,
amongst others, "Most Liked Olympic Sports Federations", "Best Connected Olympic Sports
Federations" and "Most Followed Olympic Officials". Two new categories, "Most Engaged Olympic
Sports Federations" and "Most Effective Olympic Sports Federations" have been included this year.
On release of the ranking, Lars Haue-Pedersen, Managing-Director, TSE Consulting a BursonMarsteller
Company said, "Social media platforms have become indispensable communication
channels for international sports organisations. Social media has evolved drastically both in how we
consume it and its importance within our society - especially within the sport industry. We hope that
this year’s ranking inspires sports governing bodies in their approach to their digital communications
now and in the years to come."
In addition to the international sports federations, the ranking also looks at media outlets and
journalists focused in the international sports industry. The Olympic sports news websiteAround the Rings was second most followed, with NBC Olympics claiming thebronze in third position. Of the journalists, the BBC’s Ollie Williams is the sports journalist mostfollowed by Olympic Sports Federations, closely followed by the IOC Young Reporters, Ed Hula,founder of Around the Rings, and sports writer Alan Abrahamson, of 3 Wire News.
The study also looked at the most followed Olympic Officials on Twitter. The number of sports leaders
active on Twitter has increased slightly compared to last year, with 17 active profiles compared with 12
in 2016. Sebastian Coe (@sebcoe), the President of the International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF), is the most followed leader in the Olympic Movement, with 123,151 followers,
ahead of Brett Gosper (@brettgosper), the CEO of World Rugby with 13,565 followers and Andy Hunt
(@Andy_Hunt), the CEO of World Sailing, with 10,437 followers.
The complete 2017 Social Media and Olympic Sport Ranking is available here.
About the Study
Burson-Marsteller’s and TSE Consulting’s Olympic Sports Social Media Ranking is a study of how
Olympic sports federations use social media. The first-ever study was created in 2016 and now, one
year on, the 2017 Ranking continues to look at how these international sports governing bodies use
their social media channels, how effective their channels are and what lessons they can learn from
each other.
Data was captured in November 2017, using Burson-Marsteller’s proprietary Burson tools. For the
purpose of this study, we only provide the top 10 results in each category. The complete rankings and
full data set are available on demand.
About Burson-Marsteller
Burson-Marsteller, established in 1953, is a leading global strategic communications and public
relations firm. It provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution across a full range of
public relations, public affairs, reputation and crisis management, advertising and digital strategies.
The firm’s seamless worldwide network consists of 77 offices and 85 affiliate offices, together
operating in 110 countries across six continents. Burson-Marsteller is a part of Young & Rubicam
Group, a subsidiary of WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY), the world’s leader in communications services. For
more information, please visit www.burson-marsteller.com.
About TSE Consulting
TSE Consulting, a Burson-Marsteller company, is an international consulting firm specialised in the
world of sport. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland – home of international sport and known as
‘The Olympic Capital’ – TSE provides services to the public sector as well as international and national
sports organisations. Services for public sector clients cover all aspects of event bidding & hosting
while services for sports organisations focus on strategy development and organisational design. For
more information, please visit www.tseconsulting.com.
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