Global multi-sport events: content strategy for driving fan engagement on Twitter

Purpose This study aims to understand the impact of content orientation, media type, and information richness on fan engagement in multi-sport global events. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a content analysis on Twitter posts recording over two million user impressions from the official account managed by the International Olympic Committee for India during the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. A multivariate Poisson model using the Bayesian approach was used for analyzing data. Findings This study found that fan engagement is likely to be higher for player-oriented content as opposed to team-oriented content. Also, the usage of photos to enhance engagement worked better than any other media type. Finally, the results revealed that the inclusion of hashtags has a positive effect on fan engagement for tweet comments but not for like count and retweet count. Originality/value The study highlights the differences in player versus team-oriented posts in global multi-sport competitions. The findings have significant implications for practicing sport managers by informing them about key elements that drive fans to engage in online communication.