Mumbai: Mumbai Indians has once again reinforced its dominance as one of the most successful sports clubs in India, and a fast emerging Indian sports brand globally.
The IPL 2020 winners have established themselves as the most engaging (cumulative engagement across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) IPL franchise for the third consecutive season. Amidst IPL 2020 played in challenging circumstances faced by sports globally due to the pandemic and the forced restrictions on in-stadia fan engagement opportunities, the IPL teams and athletes were left with a daunting task of connecting with their fans through digital innovations.
Mumbai Indians spokesperson in an official release said: "We are grateful and humbled to have an enviable force of our Paltan behind our boys. Our Paltan is the real source of our motivation in our endeavour to step up our efforts in every aspect both on and off the field. The Paltan are our real heroes. Mumbai Indians' success on the digital front during this unique IPL season is testament to pioneering stature and following of our club across the globe."
Each initiative was designed with the concept of MI's 'One Family' motto having fans as the largest stakeholder of the franchise's outreach program. Mumbai Indians' digital initiatives exceeded expectations as the Paltan (fan army) found comfort in interacting with Rohit Sharma and his boys over the 60-day activation. Mumbai Indians, across digital platforms, captured fans' imagination through its engagements clocking cumulative interactions of over 317 million across all its three social media platforms i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, earning the cap of the 'most engaged' amongst the competing clubs.
According to the numbers, RCB recorded 277.65 million and CSK had 189.67 million. The 'MI Live' show in its very first year of the rollout has been a super hit with fans as it surpassed engagement and consumption numbers by a huge margin compared to most established cricket publishers' shows during IPL 2020.
The season also witnessed the launch of a new interactive prediction game 'Paltan Play' on MI's digital platforms which allowed participants to predict the game on a real-time basis through the MI website and App. Further, a study by Spanish firm Deportes and Finanzas revealed Mumbai Indians emerged as the most popular sports team in the world on Facebook for the months of October and November 2020, ahead of teams like Manchester United FC, FC Barcelona, Liverpool FC, and Arsenal FC.
