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| I league clubs using social media |
I League, the national football league of India, have never been
able to reach to a national level till now. It is true that they have received an
ample amount of sympathy and commitment from the government for taking the league
to the next level. So knowing the pace at which the government works it will
suicidal for the clubs to be solely dependent on AIFF.
The football lovers in India like to read more about
Manchester United than our very own Mohun Bagan. Reach and popularity being the
major issue, why can’t the clubs by themselves make some moves to reach the
people. There are various social platforms through which a sporting entity can
receive both attention and publicity. Social media platforms being absolutely
free and a shopping mall filled with potential audience is the best place to
start with. This medium can be a great alternative to reach out to the youth to
encourage participation and viewership. Let us have a look at some of the clubs using
social media sites Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
I have shortlisted 6 top clubs for this study, namely Churchill
Brothers, Dempo FC, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Pune FC and Shillong Lajong.
Facebook Stats:
Club name
|
Total Followers
|
Average posts per day
|
People talking about it
|
Rating for their about us page
( 1to 5)
|
897,256
|
4
|
11,662
|
3
|
|
59,990
|
5
|
12,308
|
4
|
|
55,329
|
6
|
1,150
|
3
|
|
73,197
|
6
|
4,121
|
2
|
|
7,408
|
1
|
85
|
1
|
|
2,777
|
2
|
222
|
1
|
Twitter Stats:
Club name
|
Total Followers
|
Average tweets per day
|
Total tweets
|
2,261
|
3
|
1,758
|
|
1,773
|
3
|
5,599
|
|
2,153
|
6
|
5,241
|
|
650
|
3
|
1,399
|
|
Dempo FC
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
791
|
3
|
1,269
|
YouTube Stats:
Club name
|
Total Subscribers
|
Total videos posted
|
Total views
|
26
|
6
|
4,315
|
|
31
|
27
|
5,970
|
|
324
|
371
|
121,029
|
|
116
|
51
|
20,753
|
|
Dempo FC
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
Churchill Brothers
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
As the numbers are crystal clear, I will not explain it
further. The point I want to make is, if newly formed clubs like Pune FC and Shillong Lajong can work
towards developing their online presence why can’t other clubs do. All the
other clubs have failed to create an impactful social media existence.
It is easy to follow the rhetoric that government does not
do anything, but it is important that the clubs do something upfront to attract
audiences. Indian Football clubs need to tighten up their screws to be more
creative and follow on the path of big clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea
to increase awareness around Indian Football.
Social media is a free platform and the clubs must definitely take extra efforts in exploring the benefits out of it. The experts say that the country
has bright prospects for football, so it is ‘better late than never'.
