The 2024 Paris Olympics will undoubtedly be a historic event, not only for the athletic achievements, but also for the level of online interaction. In addition to being held in a panorama where the consumption of digital platforms has been consolidated over traditional media, these will become the most digital Olympic Games in history, attracting a massive and highly engaged online audience.
The way we will consume these games will be very different from how we have been consuming them in previous editions. Viewing competitions through streaming and/or social networks will gain prominence. We will see more than ever the athletes themselves telling ‘their own story’ on their social networks. And this is fantastic for brands.
While the global television audience for the Olympic Games has decreased steadily since 2012 (3.05 billion in the case of Tokyo 2020 compared to 3.2 billion viewers in Rio 2016), the opposite is the case for digital consumption, which has shot up significantly. For example, in the last edition of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in 2021 due to the pandemic, a record 64% of viewers consumed content on both digital platforms and television. In addition, the conversation on social networks about the sporting event was extremely successful, with a figure of 6.1 billion interactions. It is worth highlighting cases such as the #OlympicSpirit hashtag on TikTok and Instagram, or the augmented reality filters on Snapchat, which fueled the conversation in the digital environment.
The way we watch the Olympic Games has undergone a radical transformation, moving from television to the flexibility of streaming services and social networks. In this way, the new edition of the Olympic Games promises a true revolution in viewing through a multitude of digital channels. In this way, spectators will even be able to interact directly with athletes, support staff and even other spectators on social media, creating a sense of community never before seen in this type of sporting event. The platforms promise to present new spaces for telling Olympic stories, bringing people closer to each other beyond Olympic competition, with behind-the-scenes content, food, lifestyle and more.