International Olympics Committee (IOC) Members meeting at the 142nd IOC Session in Paris have received an update on the IOC’s digital engagement and marketing initiatives, including the record-breaking levels of Olympic digital engagement on the Road to Paris 2024.

“The main objective of the IOC Digital Strategy is to promote athletes and sports, by growing digital engagement around the world, during and between the Olympic Games. We want more people, spending more time, more often on our platforms. This is the most effective way to increase the value of the Olympic brand and of our digital ecosystem for the benefit of all our stakeholders,” said Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Channel Services.

Digital touchpoints have continued to go from strength to strength in the 12 months’ build-up to Paris 2024. This includes Olympics.com, where audiences average 8 million to 10 million unique users every month. That’s double the number seen in 2021 – an Olympic Games year – and making it one of the biggest digital sports platforms globally. Of note is that, within this audience, 40 per cent are under the age of 34.

This upward trend is also seen across Olympic social handles, consolidated under @Olympics just before Tokyo 2020, and which play an important role in growing engagement and the Olympic brand relevance with audiences. Here, a record-breaking 1.1 billion engagements were reached last June, which is three times the engagement before the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, which were held in the first half of 2021.

These new levels of Olympic digital engagement are a result of the implementation of the strategy to promote the Road to Paris 2024, with a host of initiatives, campaigns and activations, including the Olympic Torch Relay, the launch of the Olympic website and app, Olympic Esports Week, the Let’s Move campaign and the Refugee Olympic Team.

The strategy to focus on the promotion of the Olympic Qualifiers has been a key driver in this increase, Leandro Larrosa, IOC Director of Digital Engagement and Marketing, explained to the Session.

Content was created for more than 400 Olympic Qualifier events organised by the respective International Federations. Here, 11,000 athletes’ stories, 195 live broadcasts and more than 8,000 social media posts led to more than 600m engagements.

This included the first-ever Olympic Qualifier Season events in Shanghai and Budapest, where preliminary results show the power of the Olympic brand. The OQS event, featuring the Olympic brand, generated higher engagement than the sum of the previous individual qualifier events in each sport.

The stage is now set for Paris 2024, where record-breaking engagement across the Olympic digital ecosystem is expected to continue, with 200 million unique users on the website and app, and 7.3 billion engagements targeted.

“The digital experience for Paris 2024 is the most sophisticated product we have launched so far,” explained Exarchos. “It was built on innovation, audience insights, content diversification, new features and technical improvement. Athletes are at the heart of what we do, so our content has one goal: to strengthen the connections between the fans and athletes as they celebrate the joy of sport. Our storytelling is rooted in community, defined by inclusivity and driven to give fans everything they need to know to truly savour Paris 2024. We are inspired by the intersection of sport and culture, where a new generation is ready to leave their mark.”